A dark violet storm cloud soon erupted up into the sky, with flashes of thunder every few seconds. Standing directly underneath them was a couple of shadows, both of which with an increasing glow of deep crimson surrounding them. Nearby were a line of other figures - the Mayor of Sandover Village, the Fisherman, and Jak's uncle among many, all of which tied up to a rock with a single thread of rope. The light soon started to become clearer around the shadows, and now they were shown in full figure… as Gol and Maia.
"Unsuspecting citizens of Sandover," Gol shouted, "get ready for a thrill that will blow your life away!"
"Ah yeah, go for it bro, I think that this is the right time to get this show on the road!"
In his hands, an orb of energy started to form around it. It almost looked like a Power Cell, but darker in colour and slightly misshapen. He hurled it at the Mayor, who was struggling with all his might to break free. And then, it made contact with his body. His cramped furious facial expression suddenly started to pull apart. His mouth started to form a small straight line across his face, and it dipped a couple of centimetres below the eyes, taking the nose with it. The hair on his moustache and on his head withered like they were a dead plant. And within time, his skin colour changed to a very pale shade of white.
"Yes, that's it, absolutely wonderful, now bring back the glorious life energy", he smirked with a sinister laugh escaping.
The same orb seeped out from the torso, and hovered above Gol's hand. It now glimmered with a bright shade of turquoise. In an instant, he slipped it inside his front pockets.
"Brilliant, I can feel the energy inside!" Gol smiled.
"Superb stuff!" chanted Maia. "I knew I could count on you!"
"However, there's still a little bit more that I need to earn from these sand-shopping losers here."
From his hands, several more dark orbs seeped out, and they seeped into the other citizens. One by one they came out shining light turquoise, leaving the hostages pale and 'zombified'. They all came towards Gol, who managed to catch them all and stuff them inside his pockets.
"I think we've got enough energy for today, until we start to raise havoc upon the world", nodded Gol.
"That's the spirit, brother! Now…"
"STOP!" shouted an interrupting voice.
They both turned in the direction of the voice. Standing nearby were six other shadowed figures, all looking different from each other. They both looked on at them with suspicious eyes on them. Finally, three of the figures emerged from the darkness - Jak, Bubba and Yolanda.
"What in Pete's sake do you think you're doin'?" Bubba growled at them.
"Ah, nothing much, just…" Gol snickered at this stage, "gathering life energy."
"Oh come on, what's the point of doing such things like that?" sighed Yolanda. "You've already got lots of life energy in you beforehand, why do you need more?"
"You just don't understand what we want to do with them, don't you?" Maia asked with a bitter tone.
"Of course I understand!" Jak fought back. "You placed Keira under your control with the Dark Eco! You took her life energy! And now, we've got her back!"
"Eh…" Gol started blushing. "No wonder what happened to the ball of energy that flew out of my pockets last night!"
Furthermore, the remaining three figures stood out, showing themselves, as Daxter, Olga and Keira.
"Gol, you are so gonna get it when Jak and the others are through with you!" shouted Keira.
"Shut your mouth girly", sighed Maia. "We have all the power we need for our Ultimate Plan!"
"How 'ultimate' eh?" Olga sighed, rolling her eyes. "Your plans never worked last time, and they still won't now."
"This is where the science comes in, you weedy flut-flut", snickered Gol. "With this energy, I will be able to rule over everything. But the first task it does is one of the most devastating moments of life."
"Lemme take a smart guess at this one", Daxter said while folding his arms. "You hanging your mother's briefs up on a Sunday afternoon."
"Actually, we have something else in mind", Maia nodded.
The turquoise orbs rose out from Gol's pockets, and formed a bright circle. They started to spin in motion with each other, eventually forming a bright white ring surrounding the area. Then it sent sparks around the area, flashing at several points around the island. And then… it came to a slight pause. They looked up at the ring, but no sooner than they did so… the island started to shake.
"It's WORKING!!!!" Maia shouted.
"Oh my God!" Daxter exclaimed. "What's happening to the floor?"
"Calm down, whatever you do, don't move a muscle!" Yolanda commanded.
"This looks too scary", Olga started to cry. "I wanna fly off the isle! I wish I was home!"
"Relax kid", nodded Bubba. "We'll figure out what on Earth this ring is doing sooner or later…"
There was a crack.
"Oh crikey, now what?" Keira squealed.
"Just stand still Keira", said Jak in a soothing tone. "I'll be by your side."
On the shores of the island, a few cracks appeared around the beach, sending a light sandstorm around the area. The cracks continued round the perimeter of the beach, and when they finally met up at the other side of the island… there was a push. Within no time at all, the island elevated from its position a few hundred feet into the air, adjoining the clouds. Misty Island is now… a floating island. Clouds started to soar above our six heroes, and our couple of villians, and the hostages taken in, until they started to dip down and around them, surrounding them like a misty fog. A cold breeze started to swing around them. And then, they started to dip below them. The sun started to dip slightly down at them, but it soon stopped. They all looked down, and saw Misty Island, escalated a few thousand feet into the air. Olga had a facial expression filled with terror, but no different to Yolanda, whom started to tremble from her position. Soon, they all turned around, and stepped towards Gol and Maia, ready to confront each other face to face. The evil siblings were of no expression - they were ready for what they seem to do best.
"Stupid question time", sighed Daxter. "Exactly why did you bring the island a few thousand feet into the air?"
"That's one thing that you will never understand", growled Gol. "With the life force of the citizens of Sandover, I used their energy to bring the Island up to its peak."
"He said why, not what you just did", muttered Bubba.
"Let me have a try for once", sighed Maia as he pushed Gol to the floor. "Gol's not good with words."
"HEY!" he shouted back.
"Besides, didn't you forget the grenade launcher on top of the Dark Eco temple?"
She points at the gun, which now stood a few yards to her right. They all looked at it for a few seconds... and Daxter and Bubba fell about laughing.
"What do you think is so funny?" she asked them.
Keira gave out a sigh towards Maia. "Get over it, I don't think that thing can shoot anyhow. There were no more bullets the last time I came to the island for a spot of cleaning."
"Stupid girl, you're forgetting something, aren't you?" Gol sighed. "Take a look down the side of the gun."
And so they all did, one at a time. They all lowered their heads down to the Dark Eco pool below them, and saw... a pipe. A metallic pipe. It was stuck inside the ooze, and was hissing off steam. It was connected to other pipes, escalating high up the side of the temple, until it reached the top. Another machine stood next to it. Olga went out to touch it, but as soon as she let go, she blew into the tip of her wing, and started shaking it about.
"This machine's too cold! Eco doesn't work like that! Not in this coolness", said Olga as she shook her head.
"Think again, bird brain", snickered Gol.
At the end of the second machine, a clear plastic pipe was seen linking that and the gun together. It was now seen from a strange perspective - Dark Eco was being poured into the gun.
Jak gave out a sigh. "Gol, you... you... Fiend!"
"He's not the fiend around here, you are!" Maia shouted while pointing her finger towards Jak and the others. You and all the other miserable civilians in this dimwit-looking world-"
"I know what you guys want to do with that machine anyhow!" sighed Yolanda. "You plan to spray it all over the world, making them fall to your every command! That's even worse than a cheesy novel, a mankey toothbrush and a rainbow-colored scout fly in one place."
The two villains looked at each other again, only this time they were blushing, and there were huge anime sweat drops on the side of their faces.
"That's it!" Gol shouted with anger. "I don't care about your opinions. It's others that count, and they will agree once I'm through with them."
"Quick guys, run out of here and come back with anything useful you can find!" shouted Jak as he mounted Olga. "Olga and I will guard the machine."
"Yeah, ride 'em cowboy!" she giggled to herself. "This is gonna be so fun! Bye bye evil dorks!"
A few moments of tension arrived between two teams on a sky high Misty Island. Thunder flashed right underneath it, and the shining of the sun above them was eliminated down on the good and the evil - good, represented by Jak riding on Olga, and evil, represented by Gol and Maia charging right towards them. The world's destiny is in their hands.
"Olga, jump!" Jak commanded her.
The flut-flut performed a high bound leap over the evil siblings, eclipsing right over them. As soon as they touched down, they made a run for a few paces, and turned back around.
"So", Gol started as he turned around towards them. "You think you can get away with it that easily, huh?"
"Not if I can help, you two-faced dark-hearted scum!" growled Olga. "This war will end now!"
They made another charge towards them, and this time both siblings made a jump, up into the air, hoping to land on top of our heroes. Without hesitation, Olga brought out one of her clawed feet, and scratched their chests, and then used the claws to toss them overhead. Jak held onto her back as tight as he could, and as she stood upright again, he shuffled up a bit.
"If that's the best you can do, you haven't faced our power yet!" sighed Maia.
"Power?" Jak said with his ears twitching. "In what way?"
"You never heard of Dark Eco magic, haven't you?" Gol replied with a sneer.
Both of them stared at each other blankly, as Maia sneaked over to the machine, opened the fuel compartment, and rubbed her hands in Dark Eco. An eerie purple glow started to surround her at this point. Quickly, she turned back to face the two of them.
"I hope you've written your wills", smiled Maia, "because you will be gone before-
"Jak, you got a pen?" Olga asked him. "Or paper for that matter? I ain't wrote mine yet!"
Gol fell over behind them, with an anime sweat drop on his face. But while this happened, a charge occurred in Maia's right fist. There was nowhere to escape from this attack... it was almost like they were doomed, until... a shot of Yellow Eco hit her from behind.
"What?!? Who did this?!?" shouted Maia.
She turned around... to see Keira, Daxter, Bubba and Yolanda, all charged up with Green, Blue, Red and Yellow eco respectively.
"Quick guys!" commanded Keira. "I'll restore health to the citizens, Bubba can help Jak and Olga, and Daxter and Yolanda can take on Gol. Let's go!"
"Yeah!" the others cheered in unison.
"Not so fast, you muck-infested morons!!!" Gol shouted with anger. "I'll-"
It was too late. They were gone in a flash. As he turned around, he saw Daxter, using the Blue Eco to run around Gol. His light violet skin started to turn a deep shade of red, and he started to chase him. At the same time, Yolanda attempted to fire Yellow Eco onto him. Only a few shots out of hundreds missed. Bubba immediately made a counterattack onto Maia, and with the power of Red Eco he started punching her down to a pulp. She started to get dizzy, while he landed and brought his fist out once again.
"One more for the count?" Bubba shouted with pride.
"Go for it!" Jak commanded him.
He brought his fist back a bit more, and with a glow of rage in it, he punched Maia down to the floor unconscious. She is now seen with a bloody nose, a bruise on her cheek, a black eye, and a tooth missing. They then raced over to Gol, ready for cornering him, but...
"Get away, all of you!"
He then performed a high jump over the group, and made a dash towards the gun. He took his place on a seat on the machine, and aimed the cursor above it down on the world below.
"Yeeeeeees, sooner or later this planet will see a world like no tomorrow!" He then followed with a sinister laugh.
"I don't think so!" Jak sighed.
He picked a rock up, and rode towards the gun, which was starting to charge with energy. He came close enough to the nozzle, and without hesitation he tossed the rock in it, and quickly rode back to the others. Back there, Bubba kicked Maia over to Gol's side.
"What's happening?" Gol sighed angrily. "WHY HAVE YOU DONE THIS TO ME?!?!?" He then paused with anger. "ALL RIGHT!!!! You may have won this round, but you haven't seen the last of-"
Before they could finish, An explosion of Dark Eco sent both of them skyward. Then when they came hurling back down... they went zooming past the island, and hurling down to their own citadel below. The Dark Eco storage area opened once more, and they fell right into it. It closed shut before them, and it gave off specks of white energy. From there, came a hurling ball of white, coming right towards the island. It landed on the site of the gun, and glimmered with all its might.
"Is that... is that what I think it is?" Daxter asked.
"I think it is... White Eco!" Yolanda said with an amazed tone.
"Hey, wasn't that the stuff that we used to stop Gol and Maia last time?" Jak asked Daxter.
"Of course it was, it ain't rocket science", he replied while folding his arms.
"I think I can sense something in this thing!" Bubba shouted.
"What is it?" Keira asked him.
"It seems like the ball wants to congratulate us by turning one of us back to what we were before... but how are we gonna do that? There's three of us, and them braindead fogeys over there!"
"Bubba, I already turned them back", smiled Keira.
She pointed at them, and they all looked back at the citizens of Sandover Village (minus Samos and Oracle, of course), cheering on for them.
Bubba was left to blush before looking on at the others. "It'll be tough for us all, I mean, one of us needs to turn back to what they were before... but who?"
"I think I have a solution", smiled Yolanda.
She placed her left hand into a pocket in her jacket, and pulled out what looked like a dice, but with colored sides.
"This is my chance dice. It's got three colors scattered across its six sides - red, blue and yellow. We will use this to determine the outcome of this event."
"I hope I don't get any girly colors", sighed Daxter.
"If it's red, it's Bubba. If it's blue, it's Olga. And if it's yellow, it's Daxter."
"Just what I thought, why ain't there an orange side? Colors like that are for the dumps!"
"Daxter, stop complaining and let's get on with it."
She rolled the dice across the ground. It continued to roll several times, and the three of them watched on as it slowly begin to stop rolling. The outcome was soon to be decided.
---
Sunrise once again shone over Sandover Village, but it soon caused an eclipse over a small hut nearby. From the Green Sage's hut, Keira and Samos went in that direction, and headed inside. They were welcomed to a small hut, which is still in the need for a springclean. Jak was there, sitting on a half-made matress. Standing nearby were Yolanda, and the Red Sage. The mayor, Jak's uncle the explorer, and the fisherman were standing by the window. They were all facing a closet door opposite one of the windows.
"How long has it been?" Keira asked.
"Probably... um..." Jak brought his eyes to the ceiling. "A couple of hours."
"Uh, even though I don't really like the appearance on the outside, there is still a hint of strength on the inside, so why get rid of that with it?" blinked the Red Sage.
"I have a feeling that it's a dream that has been seeked for from the start, father", nodded Yolanda. "Nothing special."
The door opened in front of them, and three shadows came. Two of which were wearing what looked like craft outfits, and the third was an altered figure. The first two came into the light, and showed themselves, as Daxter and Olga, still in their otzel and flut-flut forms.
"Hey Jak! Have you been drinking my Crabozade again?" growled Daxter.
"No I haven't, why?"
"He almost fainted!" Olga exclaimed. "Dehydration came to him! The can was empty..."
"Sorry about that, I wanted to take a bit of an in-op refreshment", said a voice.
They turned in the shadows, showing the altered figure. As he came up into the light, he showed himself, as Bubba. A difference was spread... in the colour of his fur. His fur was changed back to the purple colour it was before.
"Sorry Daxter", he sighed.
"It's OK man, why didn't you tell me you were thirsty?"
"I felt too excited to think."
"So, ever since you've returned the civilians home again, and helped a lost soul", smiled the Mayor with a joyful expression, "what will you be doing in the future?"
"I hope to return to my detective profession once again", nodded the Lurker. "And hopefully none of them should freak out now. But even with Gol and Maia gone, I still feel that there are some evils remaining in this world."
"Olga and I will head back to Volcanic Crater", followed Yolanda.
"Yeah, that's what we'll do", giggled Olga. "I love being a flut-flut! I'm more useful now."
"I'm glad you said that", replied the explorer. "Hey, I'm thinking of going to camp there sometime, and in the daytime I'll catch some real arachnids in Spider Cave and breed them back home."
"Sure, as long as you don't give any to me... ick!" Daxter screamed with shock.
"Uncle, if you know about one of the remaining Power Cells" Jak said while referring back to the gate problem at the start, "please tell me about it. We're a little stuck."
"All I can say is that you've got plenty of precursor orbs for the job", smiled the fisherman.
"What in Pete's sake does that mean?" Jak asked him.
"You'll see", Jak's uncle chuckled.
---
On a nearby cliffside on the shores, both Jak and Daxter were sitting down, hugging their knees, and in Daxter's case, drooping the tail over the cliff. They were watching Yolanda, Olga and the Red Sage head up the steep cliffs towards Fire Canyon. Bubba was running behind them. As they slowly make it up to the top, they took one last glance at the two of them, and waved at them. They waved back. And before they knew it... they were gone.
"It was really nice helping others for a change", said Jak in a sweet tone."
"Yeah, and I was so close from bagging a girlfriend too!" Daxter growled. "Anyhow, it's time we went back to the Power Cell collecting."
"I wonder what my uncle meant when he said we've got plenty of precursor orbs for earning the last few?"
"Hmmm..." Daxter started to ponder.
He placed a hand over his chin, and took random glances around the area. And at one time... he made a swift turn straight to his right. Oracle stood by, with a couple of shining Power Cells in its eyes.
"Jak, I think we've got a solution!"
-fin-
---
Jak and Daxter and all related characters are © to Naughty Dog 2001-2002. Yolanda, Bubba and Olga are © to RexRock 2002. All rights reserved