The Air Train finally landed for the last time on the trip. The morning sun rose from the east bathing them in its warmth as they walked out onto the cool morning air. They stretched and walked about trying to get their feet working again from being cramped inside the Air Train. Trees receded from the beach. The salty sea air filled their noses as the morning birds hooted and chirped their voices and songs in the canopy above.
They approached a large metallic ship that somehow floated; it awaited them in the shallows upon the shoreline. Krimson Guards stood around the shoreline as some civilian type people tinkered with the boat. Along the outskirts of the beach was tents set up for sleeping and resting.
Some patrolling Krimson Guards came and escorted them to the ship. Jak glared at them but made no move or gesture towards them. The Krimson Guard that stood next to him seemed not to notice because the mask covered his face. But underneath it the Guard felt uncomfortable and scared. If the stories are true then he had every right to be scared.
Jak knew they were on the good side now since the Baron is gone. But Jak couldn't help feeling resentment towards them. They went through hard times because of them, even if they were only following orders.
Daxter looked around from Jak's shoulder and growled, "I see a beach but I see no women! Just some stupid old tents and stupid Krimson Guard"
"Oh and what does that make me?" Keira asked over hearing Daxter's complaint
"Oh uh…" Daxter murmured in embarrassment as he had forgotten she was there, "I mean pretty women…oh I mean other women. Women who are not taken"
Keira put her hands on her hips and glared, "Pretty women?"
Daxter cringed back further, "Jak….help"
"Your on your own Dax" Jak chuckled, "You got yourself into it you can get yourself out"
"Easy for you to say! Your not two foot tall, orange and pant-less!" Daxter growled
"Will you cherries be quiet, we're almost at the ship" Sig growled
Daxter growled and moaned on Jak's shoulder. Keira decided to take it up with Daxter later but they all remained silent until they reached the ship.
One Krimson Guard went ahead and told the mechanics working on the ship that the visitors had arrived. Two mechanics stopped working and turn towards the group as they approached them.
An older male greeted them; he was in a blue jump suit that was dirty and grimy from oil and rust. His pale face was smudged in the same way but a friendly grin scrawled through it.
"Welcome, I am Tollanar, head mechanic of this ship and this is my daughter and assistant Jolva" he greeted
As soon as he introduced Jolva she approached them in the same fashion as her father. She was grimy and wore a blue jumpsuit. She smiled at them sweetly. Jak heard Daxter purr.
"Arrrr. Maybe there are some other women are on this beach after all" Daxter smiled
He hopped down and approached the girl in a cool style. He smoothed his ears back and flashed his white teeth.
"Hey there sweet cheeks! Orange Lightning is here to rock ya world. How about later we can pitch a tent and get a few screws loose?" he said smoothly
Jolva was slightly confused by the Orange matter that talked in front of her. She didn't know what it is or his sense of humour or character. She bent down to look at the animal.
"Wow, aren't you a cute little thing" she patted him roughly on the head, "I don't think I seen anyone like you before"
"No touch the do" Daxter quipped, "I'm quite unique and love to have fun"
She straightened herself, "That's good…." Unsure what else to say
"Sorry about him, he gets like this when he's away from the Naughty Ottsel for long periods of time" Jak cut in
"It's quite alright, I think he's cute" Jolva smiled. She at least knew what the Naughty Ottsel was, everyone did.
Daxter turned to Jak and smiled, "You hear that Jak? She thinks I'm cute!"
"I don't know about you cherries but I would like to start this journey before the Yakows come home" Sig interrupted
"Oh yes, well the voyage is going to take a few days. We'll be companying you as well as the Captain and Crew" Tollanar continued
"How does this ship work?" Keira asked now running her hand along the metallic body
"Fibre Glass and Blue Eco" Tollanar replied, "Though electricity would have been preferred, Blue Eco is more sufficient and runs our engines better. It also makes the ship faster and time is at the essence here"
"Interesting" Keira smiled
Tollanar was about to go into technical jargon when suddenly gunshots were heard. They all turned to see the Krimson Guard running to one spot and firing their weapons to something in the forest.
"Oh no not again!" Tollanar cried and ran to the ship.
A loud roar was heard and a large Metal Head bowled through the Krimson Guards. It was similar to the one that Sig and Jak ran away from during the time under the port.
"Hey I recognized this mother!" Sig cried and pulled out his Peace Maker, "Its time to battle again!"
Jak whipped out his Morph gun and switched to Peace Maker mode. Keira and Jolva headed towards the ship. Daxter hopped back on Jak's shoulder. Krimson Guards shot at it and threw small Dark Eco bombs (similar to the ones at the dig site) at it but it didn't affect the bug creature one bit.
Jak and Sig charged up their Peacemakers and the blue energy was released. Blue electricity smacked onto the large creature' head. It screamed and charged towards the offenders.
"Looks like we got his attention!" Sig commented and ran off charging his Peace Maker as he went
Jak separated from Sig and charged his Peace Maker also. They both fired from different directions. The beast growled and shook its head. The beast swung his enormous tail at Sig. Sig jumped it and charged his Peace Maker again and fired. The missile missed its target but hit its shoulder instead. The beast merely chuckled.
Jak was getting ready for another charge and fired. The beast bobbed his its head down to miss the attack. Sig decided to get a little closer to the sucker. He jumped onto the Metal Head's tail and climbed up onto its back. The Metal Head felt him running along its spine and it shook madly trying to get him off. Sig held on and crawled to its head. He charged the Peace Maker and gloated.
"Eat this!" Sig cried
He pulled the trigger the short-range blast hit the Metal head and spilt its contents all over its head. The beast shrilled and screamed and waved about. Sig decided to get off before things got real ugly. Sig started to run down its back. The beast wasn't going to let Sig down easy. The beast swung it's tail and scooped up Sig as he ran down the back. The sudden jerk knocked the wind out of him.
"Sig!" Jak yelled and ran up to the beast charging his Peace Maker.
The Metal Head reared its head at Jak and shrilled. Jak fired and struck the Metal Head in its head. The beast, determined not to let give up his vengeance, roared and swung its tail and threw Sig mightily high into the air.
SIG!" Jak cried in fear as Sig was launched into the air
Sig arched over the land and into the deep blue water. He entered with a cold hard splash. The Crew on the ship who saw what happened sent down a lifeboat and made their way towards Sig.
The Metal Head seemed to laugh.
Jak growled as anger built up in his system. A familiar tingerly sensation filled his muscles. Jak calmly put his Peace Maker away as Daxter saw Dark Eco sparks emitting from his companion. He jumped off knowing what was going to happen.
Jak growled and screwed his eyes shut. Dark Eco wrapped around his body. Suddenly his fears loneliness and sadness didn't mater anymore. He was powerful; nothing could kill him, not even Kor. He felt the energy burning inside him, being fuelled by rage and anger. He was in charge, in power. He was free.
His eyes shot open and black shiny eyes with no pupils or whites met the Metal Head. Jak's skin turned purple as his horns grew out of his purple hair. His nail shot out and grew hard to form claws. Dark Eco sparked around him, his muscles tense for battle. He smiled. The monster inside of Jak was let loose. Daxter hopped back on Jak's shoulder like every other time Jak did this.
Jak felt the familiar weight and ran off towards the Metal Head. Even if the Metal Head was large massive creature, it didn't have enough brain to be in a circus. All it knew what to do is to kill and fight. His leader did all the thinking. It ran on pure instinct and count Jak as a threat.
It shrieked and moved its legs like a millipede towards Jak. Dark Jak smiled mischievously.
"Come on you over grown bug!" Jak taunted in his deep menacing voice, "Show me what you're made of"
The beast roared as it took the challenge. Out of its mouth it shot bullets of Dark Eco. Jak simply dodged them and laughed, "Is that all you got?"
The beast raised its claws when Jak was near enough and stuck down only to hit dirt. It tried to strike a couple of times but Dark Jak was too quick. Jak smiled as the scythe looking claw came down again. He jumped onto it and dug his hard supernatural nails into the forearm. The creature screamed as Dark Jak sent sparks of Dark Eco into the wound, and then finally he dragged his hand down the arm making the wound bigger.
The beast waved its arm frantically in pain, trying to get the offender off. Daxter who was quietly holding on to Jak's shoulder screwed his eyes shut at the gruesome experience.
He heard Dark Jak's manic chuckle.
Jak seemed unruffled by the beast's attempts to get rid of him. Instead he climbed his way up the arm, onto its shoulder. Then climbed on top of its head where the shiny Metal Head Skull Gem shone brightly. Just like Sig had done previously.
"Say hi to Kor for me" Dark Jak gloated as he charged up his power
Dark Eco sparks flared around him. He made a fist with his right hand and he leapt in the air, higher than he normally would, and brung his charged fist down onto the beast's forehead. Daxter recognised it to be the move Dark Bomb. The first gift that the Oracle had given Jak.
Powerful shockwave of purple spread out from his fist enveloping the beast's head. The beast roared and shrilled, the pain was unbearable. Dark Jak jumped off the Metal Head and landed with ease on the ground from the dizzying hight.
Finally the beast fell, the Dark Eco killing the last brain cells it had (which was not many) and collapsed with a large quaking thud. It let out a croaky roar and dramatically ended its life. Dark Jak could feel the power leaving; he didn't want to return to the shadows where he hid. He wanted to have fun, be free and not live in his everyday fears and worries. He didn't want to carry the 'hero burden' no more. But soon his discolouration returned to his normal creamy skin. His eyes lost its murky blackness, his hair returned to fluoro blond, his claws seemed to shrink back to their normal size nails and his horns receded back into his skull.
He was normal again. Jak slouched and puffed. He was extremely tired. His alter ego took longer and more energy than it should have.
"Wow Jak!" Daxter cried, "That Metal Head didn't stand a chance!"
Jak just smiled. He heard his friends calling to him. He turned and saw them waving at him in relief.
***
Later they were all on board the ship. Lots of Krimson Guards were patrolling on board, only because they escaped the attack from the Metal Head.
Jak rested on a seat. Keira sat next to him squeezing his hand. Jolva sat nearby. Daxter rolled up to her and put on his best charm.
"So how did you like me handling that mean Metal Head?" Daxter asked
"I thought your friend did?" Jolva said a little surprised
"Jak? Nah, he just helped me. He's my sidekick. We do this stuff all the time!" Daxter boasted
Daxter ranted on about how he defeated the Metal Heads and their leader and try to charm the girl into his arms. Jolva listened intently when Daxter told the story about the battles but was a bit confused when Daxter switched on the charm. She didn't understand the creature's character.
Sig approached Jak with his Peace Maker in hand.
"That was some hell of a metal mashing, cherry" Sig said in his deep voice, "That nasty critter won't be bothering us again"
"Are you ok?" Jak asked
"Yeah I'm fine but my Peace Maker is water logged" Sig growled rattling his gun
"I can fix it if you like" Tollanar offered as he approached
Sig looked at the older man then his gun and sighed, "All right, but if you do anything to brake her….."
"I'll be gentle" Tollanar reassured
"You better" Sig threatened
Tollanar slinked away to repair the Peace Maker. Sig's gaze burned into the back of his neck.
"That's good that I find you all here" a deep voice bellowed
They all turned to see a large bearded man. He seemed rigorous, commanding but gentle. He had brown hair, brown moustache and beard, he was bulky as Sig, and he wore a red tunic with long brown pants. A dark green cape hung from his shoulders. He had his hands behind his back looking at the visitors respectfully.
"My name is Kranzar, Captain of this ship Ecoexplorer. Your quarters are below deck. Torn gave us your names so there is no need for introductions" he boomed
"Ecoexplorer?" Daxter snorted, "Might as well call it scrapjunk or floatingdisaster!"
"You must be Daxter. Torn told me about you" Kranzar boomed
"Yeah, me and him are great friends" Daxter gave a smile
"He told me that your are an annoying little orange rat" Kranzar continued
"Yeah? Well don't always believe what you hear" Daxter replied
"Do you know anything about this land?" Jak interrupted
"Yes. I haven't been there myself but other people I known have. It's very dangerous in these lands, creatures are rumoured to live there" the Captain informed them
"Metal Heads?" Jak asked
"No, I think more deadly type of creatures exist there" the Captain's deep voice grew quiet, "No one has seen them properly, those who have never got to live to tell the tale"
"Ooohh spooky" Daxter quipped
"We just have to be cautious when entering the land. If you stick together and keep your wits about you then we can find this Eco without too much drama" Kranzar reassured, "Now the sun is setting. You all should get to sleep, I bet you all had a busy day battling with the Hora-quan"
His eyes rested on Jak when he said it but quickly darted elsewhere. Kranzar turned away and disappeared somewhere into the ship. The group moved off for the Cabins. Daxter said goodbye to Jolva and rejoined Jak at his shoulder.
Jak knew that everyone saw the battle with him and the Metal Head. The crew stayed well away from him, so did the guards and the Captain gave him a harsh look that he knew his secret. Jak too tired to care what everyone else thought. As long Keira loved him, Daxter by his side and Sig watching his butt, he was all right.
After entering the cabins they settled themselves in and laid down on the soft feather beds. It felt good and different from the hard metal Air Train seats that they had been sleeping on.
They prepared themselves for bed. Daxter giving his usual remarks, Sig growling for quiet and Keira with her gentle words, Jak felt right at home. Where ever home was. He shuffled into his sheets as Daxter curled up at the end of his bed next to his leg. Keira slept in a separate bed, wishing there was a double bed in the room and Sig slept in the corner where his bed is, already fast asleep.
Jak drifted peacefully off to sleep, his tired body getting the rest it needs.
TBC….
