(Phases into existence, humming "Nightmare Zero")

Hail to you all once again, and to anyone who recognizes the above mentioned tune, yes, I am a nerd and darn proud of it!

In a bit of a rush here, trying to get as much of this sucker done before I go back to school on the 22nd, and I once again thank animedragongirl for taking time out of her life to correct my many spelling and grammar errors. (bows)

Okay, the whole teleportation idea has had mixed reviews, but I decided I would experiment (I have an alternate version just in case the idea really doesn't go over well) with it once Tony said that it could be like the time stop ability you receive in Jak 3, since our dark elven hero is not going to be receiving any light oriented powers. However, it is not without its flaws. 1. It is an extremely short ranged ability, the most that Jak can do is move sixty feet in any direction. 2. It is very loud, with a cracking type noise that splits the air as he disappears and then again when he reappears, there also a 'mist' of Dark Eco, so its not a stealthy thing. 3. As it was with Nightcrawler, Jak actually has to be able to 'see' where he is going to go, if he can't picture the place in his mind, then it doesn't work. 4. It is extremely draining to use extensively, and using it multiple times in a row can also be very disorienting, so its normally only a 'get the heck out of the way' type defensive maneuver, or something to be used when you really want to humiliate an opponent.

That clarified, I want to thank and respond to everyone who reviewed.

Philoworm- Yeah, I've seen those kind of fights before, and the only one that was actually interesting to watch was Nightcrawler's in X-men 2. Still, the technique has quite a few flaws, so Jak won't really be using it all that often. As far as that whole scene with the mirror, the reflection was supposed to be Praxis 'conscience' finally catching up to him and telling him how bad of a boy he's been. As for your ideas, the 'dark bolts' make their appearance in this chapter, and the Shadow Flare ability its what Kage used to blow up that tank (its basically what he has instead of the dark strike power) and the 'Darkness Overload' will be used in the final confrontation with the Metal Head Leader (the best time to use such overkill type attacks) (insert cackling). That said, I hope you like this chapter, and thank you once again for your ideas. (bows)

Xeno-Freak- Yes, Errol is in trouble, However, due to a complete freak chance of nature/Deus ex Machina type salvation, Errol will survive, and become something more dangerous than Cyber-Errol could ever hope to be in his wildest fantasy (I personally never really like the whole terminator wannbe look myself). Also, the being responsible for saving his sorry arse will also provide something of an ironic and morbidly humorous plot twist when all is said and done. .

Dar Kash Elin- You get your wish, my friend, hope that you enjoy it.

MariaShadow- Yeah, Errol's going to have a lot of pain in the future, though I won't say just how, though there will be some slicing and dicing involved. (insert evil laughter) Also, glad you like Ryan, he'll make a couple more appearances in this story, as will Benton, the other K.G. OC of mine. Hope you like the chapter, especially when it comes time for Errol to receive his just desserts.

Farr2rich- Hope you liked your vacation, and I was glad to see you update your own story as well. Yeah Praxis is OOC cause I'm trying for a 'redemption' type deal with him, as they way he bought it in the game, kind left me disappointed, as if there was so much more to him that we never got to find out. Oh well. And yes, Onin was responsible for making Jak into one of the strongest being in existence, which will be necessary, as Metalliucus Cranus Leaderus will be capable of kicking major butt in this version (I always felt they made Kor way to easy to beat, for Pete's sake, the guy made a career out killing Precursors!) Hope you update your own story soon!

DarkStarPhoenix- Yes, I am evil, I know that. And thanks for the flaw ideas with the teleport ability, it is very short ranged as I said. About Ashelin coming onto Jak, no that will not happen. Praxis was Damas' brother-in-law, making him Jak's uncle, making Jak and Ashelin, first, cousins, and that would just be gross. Besides, I always felt that she and Torn were supposed to hook up, and perhaps they will in Jak X. About the Dark Sludge...I'll try to fit it in somehow, but that sounds more like a elven military weapon for incapacitating an object without having to cause lasting damage to it. Thanks though, and I hope you enjoy this chapter.

tony- Thank you very much for your way of thinking about the teleport deal, that's what made me go through with it in the end. (bows humbly) Hope you like it, and what happens to Errol.

FuaiyaaNoRyu- You flatter me, and I am glad to hear that you think my writing is detailed, as it is what I shoot for. I'm also glad that you think I am very good on the romance subject, as I have absolutely no experience in that area, (chuckles nervously while scratching the back of his head) hope you enjoy this chapter, as I'm throwing in yet another AU concept.

GoodMorningBeautiful2005- Alright, here you go, please enjoy.

just another writer- Yes, I am planning a sequel that will go through Jak 3, though that one will be even more AU than Risen Demon. As far as Keira is concerned, though, she will, at least initially, be staying at Haven to fight the good fight (I am thinking about her being an honorary Revenant). However, once Jak return and saves the day, they will once again be at it side be side. And yes, those islands will be brought into the fold (I'm probably have some sort of Precursor research facility be on/underneath them any ideas?)

Lunatic Pandora1- Actually, Kitetsu has one move at its disposal (that will be seen in this chapter) that was taken straight from Agni and Rudra of DMC3. As far as the Hammer Blade is concerned, I don't think the dark angel will be receiving it, mostly because it would be a difficult weapon to use when flying. However, that does strike as a weapon that would be a good for someone else I'm going to try and get in. (he's sort of the 'Marauder King' if you will, provided I can get a decent name for him, as I want him and Damas to have a mono-e-mono square off when Jak launches his attack upon the marauder fortress). Thanks for the ideas, and I hope you like this chapter.

animedragongirl- Thank you for the weapon ideas (I've decided to call the templar weapon a Force Pike after reading your thoughts on the subject) (bows). I also cannot thank you enough for proofreading my works, and to answer your other question I am a proud resident of Marianna Florida. Hope your scanner decides to cooperate with you soon.

ChibiSess- Thanks for the flaw ideas on the teleporting deal, I wanted it to be something that he could use, but not something he would do very often, if you know what I mean. As far as Praxis, there will be one other thing that he does that was sorta inspired by Spider Man. As for your other comment, well, there is one thing I have noticed in my short life, and its this: Women rule the world, we men just think we do. Also, hope your family issues weren't anything too serious, and I hope to read more of your works in the near future.

Air of Mystery- Acutally, I went through and played Jak 2 with the subtitles on, and Erol was spelled like that, but in the third game, they started spelling it with a second R, why, I know not, so I just decided to go with the version that my spell checker said was correct. Glad you liked the chapter, and I hope you enjoy the K.G. commander's painful 'demise.'

Light-Eco-Sage- Yeah, I read about your connection woes, and I know how that is (my parents switched to DSL after our old provider crapped out on us, and it took nearly a month to get everything together). Hope you like the romance, I know your big on that sort of thing, and when you manage to get your new e-mail address, please let me know, as I have a few ideas I want to ask your opinion on. Also, I hope you've had a chance to write some of your own stories, as there are several that I am eager to catch up on .(bows)

Every Heart Bleeds- Thank you for your input, and rest assured, Jak is tough, but he is not invincible, (let me go ahead and tell you that in his final confrontation with Kor, that the old bug will damn near kill him, and something just about up there with divine intervention is all that's going to save his elven butt.) That said, I hope that you like this version, and I pray that the AU idea at the end of the chapter goes over well. (crosses fingers)

To those who read but did not review, I do hope that this story has been entertaining thus far, and that it continues to do so.

Lawyers: see the previous twenty seven chapters for the disclaimers.

Now, on with the story!

&

Of Visions and Payback

Errol stared at the dark elf, and at the twin blades that he now held within his hands, knowing full well what Jak was about to do with them. Faced with this, and realizing that he was now completely and utterly screwed, Errol did something that many would have found quite funny.

"Eep!" He said, his voice rather like that of a mouse that had just been stepped on.

In the next instant, Jak he launched himself as his nemesis, Kitetsu held up in front while its shadowy double was cocked back, all the while screaming out a battle cry that would have likely had Torn quaking in his boots.

However, when there was still a good distance between the two of them, Jak's eyes flashed for an instant, and then a loud 'crack' split the air. There was a mist like flare of darkness, and the Ascended Channeler vanished. Errol had about half a second to wonder what in the Nine Hells was going on, before a similar crack and flash happened about five feet in front of him. The dark elf emerged from the dispelling vapors, both blades flying back and forth in a dizzying series of combos that the K.G. commander tried to keep up with.

Alas for him, that it proved to be something of a futile exercise, as within three seconds, Jak smashed through his defenses and scored a hit along his chest, Kitetsu's phantom twin cutting through armor and cloth with ease, but stopping a literal hairsbreadth from slicing into his skin. Once the stroke had been finished, Jak launched himself backwards with a superhuman leap, coming down twenty feet away as a portion of his foe's chest protection hit the ground.

Once more, Jak glared at Errol, and swung his two weapons back and forth a few times, reminding the doomed commander what destiny was in store for him. Errol, still watching for the slightest hint of the Ascended Channeler coming at him again, felt that old sense creep back up, one he had not felt since the ill fated assault upon the metal head nest. He knew in that moment, that he was as good as dead.

His thoughts were forced back to the present as Jak ran at him again. The dark elf came in hard and fast, his twin katanas mere blurs through the air, hissing ominously as they foretold his fate. To his credit, Errol did his best to fight down the panic that was rising in his gut, and try to keep his foe from turning him into meat grinder fodder.

However, he once more failed after the first few strikes, and this time Kitetsu came in at shoulder level, cutting one of his pauldrons off before Jak ducked down and swept his feet out from under him. He felt a sense of vertigo as he lost his connection to the ground, swiftly replaced by a crushing pain as his nemesis, still spinning, rose back up and planted both of his feet in chest. He sailed backwards and hit the ground, skidding hard over it, and waited for the end, but it did not come.

Slowly, he looked back up, and found his foe once again standing several feet away, apparently waiting for him to get back up on his feet. Errol realized then what Jak was doing, the thrice be damned freak was toyingwith him, mocking his skills and everything he was capable of doing, as he had apparently been doing the whole time.

Well, if Jak wanted to play that way, then he would just have to suffer the consequences of not killing him quickly.

The K.G. commander leapt back up, and activated his arm cannon, pointing it over in the direction of Daxter, still stuck in his cage, and Keira, who was currently using her gauntlet vibro blade to try and saw through the bars. However, even as he was sighting them up, there was a pair of hissing sounds, and he looked over in the direction that the sound was coming from to find both Kitetsu and its dark copy whirling towards him. He leapt to the side in a frantic attempt to avoid the two katanas, but he wasn't fast enough as he felt one tear through his arm cannon, while the other one scored a hit along his ribcage.

As he finished his roll, and choked back a growl of pain, he saw dark energy forming in Jak's left hand, and a trio of Dark Eco orbs were quickly shot his direction. He noticed that they were pretty small, and as he dashed out of the way, that they didn't have much for splash damage, but at the current moment, that could hardly be considered wonderful.

Jak raced towards him once again, reaching out to grab both swords as they arced back through the air towards him, before whirling the blades around again. Once again, Kitetsu's runes flashed, while its copy glowed as well, and the next thing Errol knew, crescent shaped 'waves' of Dark Eco were being thrown at him. This forced him to jump around yet again, as he knew coming into contact with those things would likely be very, very painful.

Once he'd managed to avoid them, as there had been about a dozen all together, he barely had time to get his own weapon ready before Jak was upon him once again, both blades flurrying too fast for him to keep up with. An instant later, the dark elf scored yet another hit, the shadow blade cutting him across his thigh while Kitetsu kept his own sword up too high for him to do anything about it. Immediately following that, the Ascended Channeler brought his weapons down low, before bringing them both of up an 'X' shaped fashion.

He saw it coming, Dark Eco streaking off behind both of the katanas, and he jumped backwards, but yet again, was not able to get all the way out of range before the attack struck. The 'waves' that this particular attack created were far larger than the ones the blades had formed before, but they only jumped out a few feet from the source, rather than streaking across a great distance as the first ones had.

Still, that few feet was enough for them to connect with him, and they tore into his armor. He felt the dark substance eat through his clothing and agony surge through him as it was absorbed by his skin.

The pain, oh gods above, the pain. The Dark Eco was like a fire burning through him, ravaging his systems as it went deeper and deeper into him. He tried, but he could not hold back a tortured scream that would have likely woken the dead had such a thing been possible. Still, he somehow managed to stay on his feet, at least until an armored boot left a nice print shaped mark upon his face, crushing his nose instantly and throwing him onto his back.

"Come on," he heard his foe hiss, "get up! I'm not through with you yet!"

The remark, coming from that freak, almost sent Errol over the edge of his sanity, and gave him the strength to will away his pain and get back up, his eyes burning with almost satanic fury as he lunged at Jak, his blade held high above his head before he brought it slamming down. Kitetsu's shadowy twin swatted it aside almost lazily, and the original weapon parried the next stroke.

For almost thirty seconds, Jak polished his defensive maneuvers as his nemesis tried futility to pierce through the whirling blades.

Keira, who had finally managed to free Daxter, stood next to the Ottsel and both watched this display. It had been one thing for the mechanic to watch Jak use these techniques in training, but to watch them be unleashed for real…

It was, as before, strangely beautiful, the way his hands seemed to talk to each other, the way he moved both blades in tandem with each other one second and completely independently the next. He seemed, at that moment, more an athlete than a warrior struggling, and she used that term in the most liberal manner possible, against his nemesis.

A couple of seconds later, Jak grew tired of the defensive way of fighting, and whipped both Kitetsu and its copy around to where they were point side down. He then brought them downward, catching a thrust that Errol had been aiming at him. What happened next would have made one wonder where Jak had taken gymnastic lessons, as he jumped up, still pushing down on Errol's blade, and brought his feet up over his head, before planting both of them squarely into his foe's face and chest. He then pushed off, sending Errol on yet another trip to the ground, while he landed back on his feet, his arms held straight out, his face once more directed towards the earth.

The K.G. commander forced himself to ignore the pain in his face and sternum, getting back up, coughing up a bit of blood as he did so, his eyes glaring hatefully at the dark elf.

Summoning all his remaining strength for one last attack, Errol rushed forward yet again, his blade held back. Once he was in striking distance, he thrust forward, aiming for Jak's heart, screaming like a mad man.

However, the dark elf had apparently grown tired of humiliating his foe, and decided to end it then and there. As Errol close the distance between the two of them, he brought both Kitetsu and its phantom twin in from the sides, as if he were going to cross them. The two katanas bit into the commander's own blade, sheering it in half and leaving the sociopathic elf with little more than a hilt with which to use.

Even as Errol's eyes widened as he realized what had happened, Jak performed another back-flip, planting both of his feet into his nemesis' chest and blasting him up into the air. As the K.G. commander felt his breath leave his lungs and instinctively brought his arms around to nurse his crushed and shattered ribs, there was another of those loud cracks, and Jak once again vanished in a cloud of mist. A similar noise from above and behind him a moment later attested to where the dark elf had reappeared. Errol had just processed that bit of data when he felt an armored boot hit him along his back, cracking several vertebrae in the process, and a screeching of metal and circuitry attested to the fact that his left arm had just been hacked off…yet again.

As he plummeted back towards terra firma, he braced himself, only to hear another pair of cracks once he was about ten feet from the ground, and he promptly received another boot in his side.

However, Jak still wasn't done yet. As Errol sailed away from him, now in a far more parallel path to the ground as opposed to perpendicular, he dispelled the shadow blade in his left hand, and thrust it outward. An instant later, lightning once more burst from his fingertips, and connected with his nemesis.

Errol screamed as the Dark Eco surged through him again, and when he finally hit the ground, there was smoke rising from his burnt clothing, while the air stank of medium rare elf.

The K.G. commander was still very much alive, though. Jak didn't want to kill him right away, no, that would be too good for him.

And so, with slow, deliberate steps that foretold what was about to happen, and gave him a chance for a breather of his own, he sheathed Kitetsu and walked over to Errol, who had managed to roll over one to his back, despite the pain he was in.

He saw Jak coming, and noticed that the dark elf was panting like he was exhausted. Thinking, that, despite the enormous disadvantage that he was at, that he might take advantage of his foe's fatigue, Errol made a move to get back up on his feet. However, as he got to his knees, the dark elf's hands suddenly came up, and lightning came forth from both of them, overwhelming him with the pain, and blasting him back to his prone position.

"Stay down!" Jak snarled.

The Channeled Dark Eco continued to surge over the elf for several more seconds, with the sociopath screaming at the top of his lungs the whole while. Abruptly, Jak stopped, and looked over to Keira and Daxter.

"Do you think I'm being too harsh?" he asked out of the blue.

The aqua haired elf and the Ottsel exchanged a glance with each other, before looking back at the Ascended Channeler.

"Nope." Keira replied.

"Nah-uh." said Daxter.

'Most certainly not.' came a rumble from within his head.

"Okay." Jak responded, before resuming his previous activity.

Once Errol was positively steaming, the dark elf ceased his assault, granting his foe a slight breather.

"Not so much fun when you're to one getting pumped full of this stuff, now then is it, hmm?" he inquired, squatting down next to the charbroiled commander.

"If you're," Errol panted, struggling to keep enough air in his lungs to breathe, "expecting me…to beg for my life…you're…going to be disappointed!"

"I'm not entertaining any delusions of that sort, Errol." Jak said with a smirk and a chuckle. "I know you're too proud to beg. But there is one thing I want to know before I kill you."

"And what…would that be?" Errol growled, his chest still heaving.

"How many of us were there?" the dark elf inquired.

"Hell if I know." Errol responded, only to get another lighting blast.

"Wrong answer!" Jak hissed, keeping up his assault upon the helpless elf for a few more seconds before he stopped. "Now," he began once more, his voice clam and measured, "I know that there were at least twenty five others besides myself," he said, placing his hand against the part of his chest that had the tattoo inked into it, "but I know there were a lot who never survived their first treatments, and were never placed on record…so how many of us were there, Errol."

Errol answered him with yet another profanity, forcing the dark elf to resort to yet another assault upon his nemesis, until he at last seemed more willing to cooperate.

"About…a hundred and eighty." Errol replied with a gasp, his teeth clenched.

The next thing that he was aware of was of a pain in his chest, where Jak was grabbing him around the remains of his armor's under-weave. Then, there was the uncomfortable sensation of being dragged over the ground, to the edge of the Dark Eco filled ravine. Keira and Daxter followed, each of them watching, knowing what was about to happen.

It was strangely ironic, in a way.

The dark elf paused at the edge, and held Errol down so he could see the veritable river of the toxic substance flowing through the canyon, about two hundred feet down.

"I want you to know, Errol," the Ascended Channeler holding him said, "that I'm not doing this out of vengeance for myself." He then picked the commander up, and stared into his eyes one final time. "I just think, that there's going to be a hundred and eighty odd souls resting a little more peacefully now."

The next thing he knew, the air was whistling through his ears, and the darkness below coming ever closer to him. He felt a scream rising in his throat, but he choked it back with an inward growl, he would not give Jak the pleasure of hearing that noise from him again.

The next instant, he impacted upon the surface for a split second, before he disappeared beneath it, and felt the darkness start to seep in, giving him a whole new definition of the word pain.

Watching from up above, Keira let out a sigh. This battle was finally over, in a rather fitting manner, and that pretty much just left Praxis to be dealt with. That in and of itself was something of a mystery as well, as before they had left, they had heard Torn making some mention to the K.G. pulling back to palace compound. Why, none of them were sure, as they had abandoned several defensible locations in the process, something that made little tactical sense. However, nobody was really complaining.

"You okay, Dax?" Jak inquired, staring down at his diminutive friend, and calling Keira back to reality.

"No, I'm not!" the Ottsel replied, crossing his arms over his chest. "You have no idea what Errol did to me!"

"I don't see any signs of abuse." Keira remarked, raising an eyebrow at the rodent.

"Not any physical ones." Daxter retorted, holding up a finger. "That psycho kept me in his room the whole time."

"And that's bad how?" the aqua haired elf said.

"Because Errol listened to opera music virtually the whole freaking time he was in there!" Daxter exclaimed hopping up and down. "He scarred me for life! Life I tell you!"

Jak and Keira exchanged a glance, and both of them promptly broke out in laughter, causing Daxter to fume.

"Come on, little guy," Jak said, "let's get back to the base, Tess has been going out of her mind ever since you got caught."

"She has?" Daxter inquired, a silly, love struck grin making its way over his furry visage.

"Yep." Keira confirmed. "She was crying half the time, ready to storm K.G. central and take you back the rest."

"I'll have to make it up to her." Daxter said, mostly to himself, and rubbing his hands together in a way that meant the other two distinctly did not want to know what he was thinking of.

"There is one thing bugging me, though…" Jak said, as they walked back towards their zoomers, getting him a look from Daxter, while Keira seemed to already know what he was talking about.

"Who was our mysterious little sharpshooter friend?" she finished for him.

On cue, there was the sound of a speeder bike being kick started, and a crimson police cycle sped past them, the driver, his face and head now exposed, nodding to them as he headed back to Haven.

All three of them stood in place, blinking as they stared at the retreating vehicle, its color irrefutable evidence of the rider's allegiance.

"Was that…" Daxter began.

"Yep." Jak and Keira answered.

'As you elves would say, the plot thickens.'

"So," Praxis said, rubbing his temple as he turned away from now Commander Toshiro, "it's finished, then."

"Yes, Sir." the officer responded, still dressed in his black scouting gear. "The renegade came out on top after the prisoner's escort was neutralized. Though I might add that the dark elf had a similar idea himself, as I wasn't the only sniper there."

"So much the better." Praxis said, before dismissing the elite.

As Toshiro left, he turned his attention back to a map of the city, one that outlined its various defensive strongholds and key locations. The Baron then scratched his chin, trying to figure out where the enemy would most likely attack. He knew they were coming, but as always, the question was: from where? The shield wall that extended around the city and up over it was strong enough to deflect even a prolonged bombardment, and he praised Mar for having the brains to construct it. Though he did regret that the tech was so complicated that expanding it had proved to be a tricky thing, which had been one of reasons that Dead Town had fallen so easily.

Still, Praxis would have liked to think that he had learned something from that encounter, and this time, he vowed that he would not lose. Haven City could not afford another such catastrophe.

He also prayed that a certain weapon he had created would be up to the challenge as well. So much would depend upon him, whether he knew it or not.

Two more days passed, and the key members of the Underground were gathered at Keira's old place, as there was something that the mechanic wanted to show them.

She was simply grateful that Jak's antics at the Fortress had basically caused everyone to forget about the contraption, as who knew what could have happened if the K.G. had started tampering with it.

"Okay, here's what I've been working on for the past three years." She said, grabbing a hold of that mysterious green curtain, before abruptly turning back around to look at a certain furry rodent. "Daxter, no laughing!"

"But I like to laugh." the Ottsel said, before crossing his arms and pouting, causing Tess to giggle and pick him up, where she promptly began to scratch him behind his ears.

Keira simply rolled her eyes, before yanking the curtain aside, revealing a strange looking contraption. Torn, Ashelin, Tess and the Shadow exchanged confused looks, while Jak and Daxter seemed stunned.

It was the Rift Rider that had stranded them in this war torn abyss.

"I've been trying to put it back together with spare parts that I've scrounged up." The aqua haired elf said as she locked eyes with Jak.

The Ascended Channeler was silent as he walked forward, and ran his hands over the strange machine, looking down to the control panel. Everything there was exactly as he remembered it, and for several seconds he simply stared at the thing in wonder, his mind trying to digest it all.

"You built this all," he said eventually, looking over at the holder of his heart, "from memory?"

"What can I say," Keira replied with a shrug, "I was blessed with a near photographic one."

"That's my girl." Samos said, beaming with pride.

"However," his adoptive daughter said, a frown upon her face, "I'm still missing one piece."

"It figures." Daxter responded with a groan.

"What is it that you're missing?" Ashelin inquired, entering the conversation.

"An energy gem called the 'Heart of Mar.'" the tech head replied, rubbing her forehead. "I've searched every reference book I can think of, but none of them say where it could be."

There was a brief silence, where everyone remained silent.

"I know where it is." Jak said, his voice cold. "Krew has it."

Everyone suddenly looked up at him, silently telling him to proceed.

"Krew sent me and Sig down on a mission in the sewers to find that old statue of Mar that was stolen a while back, it's where I met Jynx." the dark elf explained. "We fought our way to it and as luck would have it, the gem was inside of the thing."

"Would it look sort of like a ruby, and be about the size of your fist?" Tess asked abruptly.

"Yeah." Jak and Keira said at the same time.

"So that's what that thing was." the blond haired elf muttered. "And there I was thinking Krew had suddenly taken a liking to jewelry."

"It's in his stash?" Jak asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Not anymore," Tess said with a shake of her head. "I think he's carrying it on his person now."

"I'll just have to 'convince' him to give it up." the dark elf said with a smirk.

However, before anything else could be said, the Shadow suddenly dropped to his knees, clutching his head as if in pain. In an instant, Torn and Ashelin were at his side, asking him if everything was alright. There response was a groan, and after a few seconds, the younger Sage finally opened his eyes back up.

Samos was standing over him, a serious expression upon his weathered face.

"It was a vision." He said to the two tattooed elves by the resistance leader's side, before looking down at his younger counterpart. "What did you see?"

"I saw," the Shadow panted, "what Praxis is planning to do with the Precursor Stone." He then took a moment to recompose himself, before standing back up. "He's planning on smashing it open!"

"Anyone have a clue what that would do?" Keira asked, staring around, and getting negative nods and shrugs in return.

"I know someone who might." Torn said, before grabbing his comm. unit from off of his belt and pressing a few buttons on it.

A couple of seconds later came the slightly nasal voice of a certain coke bottle glasses wearing informant.

"Whadda want now, Torn?" Vin grumbled, irritated about something. "I'm kind of busy here!"

"Stow it, Vin." Torn said with a growl. "Look, you know all about theoretical physics and what not, right? And about how they could pertain to ancient artifacts from Mar's era?"

"Yeah, I did my doctorate on it, why?" the technician inquired.

"You also know about the legend of the Precursor Stone?" the commander asked..

"Who in this city doesn't?" Vin shot back, ire clearly present in his voice. "Now where are you going in this, I'm getting some fluctuations in the Eco Grid that are making me uneasy."

"Fine, I'll make it fast." Torn groaned. "What would happen if it were to be, say, violently cracked open?"

There was a few seconds pause, which was followed by something that seemed to be a strange hybrid of a whimper, a groan, and a sigh coming from the engineer's end of the line.

"Great, just great!" Vin said, his voice shaky. "As if I don't have enough problems on my hands, you give me one more thing to worry about, thank you very much!"

"Would you quit yammering and simply tell us what would happen?" Torn snarled, glaring at the comm. unit.

"Okay, okay," Vin said in a meek tone, "if I remember correctly, if that thing were to be cracked open like that, the result would be a crater about three or four hundred miles wide."

There was a pregnant silence, in which everyone's eyes became about the size of a dinner plate, which was quickly followed by several loud gulps.

"Yeah, my sentiments exactly." Vin said. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go throw up, bye bye."

With that he hung up, and for several seconds, everyone just stared around at each other, wondering what to do. Finally, Keira broke the silence.

"How much force would you need to do something like that to the Stone?" she asked, instinctively looking over to her adoptive father.

"A lot." The old Sage replied, suddenly scratching his long white beard. "You need some sort of implosion type weapon that would be capable of putting millions of pounds per square inch of pressure onto it."

"Well," Torn said, leaning back against the garage wall, "I know that the military had been experimenting with weapons like that. But for pressure like that, the thing would have to be gods awfully huge." He muttered, before shaking his head, "There would be no way Praxis could be making something like that inside of Haven and we not know about it."

Abruptly Ashelin frowned, and looked down at the garage floor, the gears of her mind all but visibly whirring. Jak, ever the observant one, was quick to pick up on this.

"Something wrong, Ashelin?" he asked, crossing his arms and raising an eyebrow.

"I just remembered something." The daughter of Praxis said slowly. "Right before my old man made his move for the Precursor Stone, he suddenly diverted a large amount of funding and manpower to an old abandoned research station about twenty five clicks southeast of the city."

"A sound tactical move." Samos said abruptly. "It's out of the way, which would decrease the odds of Metal Heads or something else discovering it. Not to mention the fact that it would also mean no damage to the city in the event of something going wrong." He suddenly stared around at the group, his wisdom filled gaze piercing everyone. "I would suggest that we investigate this facility before anything else."

"And how exactly to you propose that we do that, Grandpa Green?" Daxter asked, taking interest in the conversation for the first time. "Just waltz on up and ring the doorbell?"

"You know," Jak said before Samos could unleash his own sharp tongue upon the Ottsel, "that just might work." He smiled grimly at the confused looks that he received, and simply held up his hands, dark lightning suddenly crackling between them. "I think they might open up for me."

Meanwhile, out near the ruins of the strip mining operation, a broken and slightly cooked figure crawled along the ground.

The Dark Eco still burned in him, the pain nearly driving him mad. However, he had noticed, strangely enough, that the toxic substance hadn't killed him, nor had it mangled him beyond recognition or turned him into some sort of horrendous mutant. It was a puzzling thing that one small portion of his mind attempted to figure out, while the rest of it simply attempted to concentrate on getting out of this bleak place alive.

He'd lost track of how long he'd spent crawling like this, but he figured that it had to be for some days at least. His right hand was brutally scraped and lacerated from where sharp rocks had gouged it, and the rest of his body was much the same.

It had also not escaped his attention that his blood was now tainted a blackish purple.

His throat was dry and screamed for water, while a gnawing pain in his stomach made him aware of the fact that it had been some time since he'd gotten nourishment.

But those were mere annoyances compared with the agony that surged through his veins.

It was at that moment in time, that Errol would have done anything to make the burning stop, to ride himself of the poison running through his systems.

But still, he did not stop, he would not give up! He had to live, he had to find a way to gain vengeance upon Jak, and upon Keira. Somehow, in some way, he would find a way to survive and to return to Haven, where he would make them beg for death. Oh yes, the tortures he had inflicted upon Jak in prison would seem merciful compared to what he would do.

And he'd make that miserable little tech head suffer just as much.

Those thoughts lent him clarity, and he continued to crawl along, trying to find some place in this hell accursed canyon that was sloped enough for him to crawl out.

For several more hours he continued on like this, until at last, exhaustion claimed him to the point where even the pain faded, and he fell into a fitful slumber.

How long he lay upon the ground like, sleeping, he would never know. However, something caused him to return the realm of the living, and he choked back a gasp of pain. He looked up, and found it to be night, and a moonless one at that. However, there was something else that grabbed his attention, something that did manage to steal away his breath.

Coming down from the sky, was some sort of dark shadow that was blotting out the twinkling stars. It became obvious to him after a few seconds that it was a ship, but clearly it was not one made by elven hands. For one thing, it was sleek and smooth, not like the flying boxes that the K.G. transport ships were, and the lack of bristling laser turrets ruled out a Hellcat of some sort.

It was also far too quiet, making even less noise than most speeder bikes did, even though it was easily three times the size of an elven drop ship.

It suddenly descended into the canyon, and came to a halt about five hundred feet away. Even from this distance, Errol saw the dark light open up from its belly, and the next thing that he knew, there were a pair of bright flashes, and two…things…both clad in bluish armor, appeared upon the ground.

It surprised him that he was able to see that far with this kind of light, or more appropriately, the lack thereof, almost as if his eyesight had improved since Jak had tossed him into the Dark Eco.

However, that was a mere side thought, as most of his attention was focused, as discreetly as possible, as he lacked anything to defend himself with even if he had been able to focus past the pain, on these strange beings.

They moved about upon their triple jointed legs with a strange grace, a superhuman fluidity and ease that he had only seen in one person before: Jak. He saw the pair spread out, both of them clutching some kind of staff, and their helmeted visages darted back and forth as they walked. After a few seconds, Errol realized exactly what they were doing: those were textbook maneuvers for setting up a perimeter.

They continued looking and scanning about for about another half of a minute, before they relayed some sort of message back to their transport. At least, this was what the K.G. commander thought they were doing, as there were several more flashes an instant later.

The first one he saw was again clad in armor, except that it was green. It had a thin build, thinner even than the two blue things currently gazing his direction with their…weapons…held at ready.

The second one, which appeared immediately after that one, was clad in red…and built like a tank. It advanced forward ahead of the green one, and he noted that it lacked the grace of its two blue comrades. This was not to say it was clumsy or anything, it just seemed to lumber about more than its fellows. However, it looked as if it would have been capable of snapping any of those other three in half.

As they drew closer, he could make out more about them. The two blue ones, for example, had armor that appeared almost form fitting, as did the green one, while the red armored creature was obviously clad in a much heavier version, and it had some strange horn like protrusions that came off of the helmet that reminded him almost of a samurai in a way. He also noted that the crimson one had two wickedly serrated blades attached to each of its forearms, though they looked as if they were 'drawn back' for right now. The staffs of the blue one also had similar devices on each end, though they were not quite as large. What was also astounding was their height. Each one of these things looked as if they were about eight feet tall, with the red one being about half a head higher than that.

When they were about a hundred and fifty feet away, another flash came from where the strange ship hovered, and this time, a being clad in white armor appeared. This one, Errol noted, did not touch down upon the ground, but rather, hovered a few inches off of the earth, before it angled itself forward, and jetted towards its comrades.

That white one, something about the way it carried itself, and its armor, which had some bizarre symbols on it, and horns similar to those of the red one, made Errol realize that this one was the head honcho of this little group. He also did not miss the long sword type weapon attached to the right forearm, which he figured to be about four feet when extended, as it was facing backwards for some reason.

They continued forward, until at last they reached him.

He looked up into their black, emotionless visors, and they stared down at him, their dreadlocks spilling down over their shoulders.

What a pathetic sight he must have looked to them, whatever they were.

Suddenly, the green one got down on his knees, and extended his palms out towards the K.G. commander. There was a flash, and fairly decent amount of Green Eco came from its hands. However, rather than healing Errol, it just floated around him, doing absolutely nothing. After several seconds, the creature stood back up, shaking its head. It then turned towards the white armored one, before speaking, most surprisingly, in elven tongue.

"I'm sorry, Excellency, but I cannot heal him, his body has already assimilated too much Dark Eco." It said, its voice masculine.

"If that's the case," said the red one, its voice revealing it to be a female, "why hasn't his body begun to simply heal itself?"

Both of them looked to the white one, who slowly nodded its head, as if realizing why.

"He must have taken too much in at once, and his body wasn't prepared to handle it." It, or rather, he, said. "We have to hurry, it's a miracle that he's managed to survive this long." he muttered, before turning to the red one. "Nira, take him and get him to the stasis pod on the shuttle, it'll do until we can get him to the Day Star, and we're going to need him if we are to be able to complete Gaia's reformation, and defeat our 'brethren' once and for all."

"As you will it, Executor Kerrog." the crimson warrior responded, before bending down and taking Errol into her arms.

The procession then made its way back to the shuttle in a rather hasty manner. There was a flash of light, and a distinct feeling of movement in his gut, rather like what happened when a roller coaster made that first big plunge. What happened after that, Errol could not recall later.

Meanwhile, hidden out of sight, the Precursor Stone suddenly turned a solid black. It stayed that way for a single instant, before it reverted back to normal.

&

(Looks about nervously, and hastily erects a barrier spell)

Okay, let me state for the record that the Precursors are still what they are in Jak 3, what you observed here were their various different 'Combat Forms.' And to answer another question before it is asked, their armors are color coded, meaning that Kerrog is the leader of the Fallen Precursors, and yes, he is a LIGHT Eco user.

Also, the 'horns' are similar in nature to the ones that Tarath has, for a better description of them, see chapter eight.

Now, I have realized this week, that my little brother has somehow managed to misplace our copy of Jak 3, so if anyone knows of a place where I could find the game script and/or a general mission guide through the game, as I need to start nailing more and more ideas for the sequel.

Along those lines, if anyone has any ideas that they would like to see in the Jak 3 sequel, please let me know, as I am going to need all the help that I can get.

Also, in the next chapter, the vulcan gun will finally make its debut, and I assure you, it will actually be a Vulcan Cannon, rather than the over glorified machine gun that it was in the game. (anyone who's seen the very first Predator movie should starting thinking 'Old Painless' and you will get a good visual idea.)

That said, please let me know what you thought of this chapter, be it in the form of advice or constructive criticism, and ideas will result in me worshiping you.

Now, I hope that you all have a very good day, and now I will begin running from anyone who is currently trying to kill me.