GMB: Okay folks, this is the next to the last chapter to this story...

SilverEyes18: So sit back and relax

Moon-Angel-Eyes: And most of all...

All: ENJOY THE FINAL CHAPTERS!

Chapter 9: The Beginning of the End

"Evil Metal Head!" Krista hissed as she shot a Metal Head in mid-leap when it tried to sneak up on her. Renee finished off the next two Metal Heads in the area and moved onto the next area, Krista spotted a large structure that strangely resembled a gun, She gasped when she realized it was the huge gun that Mar had built to blow open the Metal Head Nest but died before he got to use it. She tugged on the dark elf's red cape-cloth and pointed out the huge gun to him, they found a lift near the base of it and stepped onto it as it rose up when suddenly, the communicator went off.

"There isn't much hope now. With the Shield Wall destroyed, it's just a matter of time before the Metal Heads overwhelm us," Ashelin spoke through the comm, "You should just go through the rift back to your own time, Jak, and get away from this horrible place." Jak ignored her suggestion and popped the Precursor Stone into the machine.

"I see your point. Come on, Jak," Daxter pleaded with the dark elf.

"This place is worth fighting for!" Renee stated, "Ashelin! If you die...I'm going to be very pissed off with you!"

"Keira?" The red head gasped when she heard her friend's voice, "What the hell are you doing there?"

"Keira," Serena asked, "I'm Renee...I'm one Torn's new recruits!" Jak and Daxter had a hand over their mouths to keep quiet.

"Uhh...we'll hold out as long as we can then! Fare well!" The Krimzon Guard woman shut off the comm and Serena shook her head, a frown still plastered onto her face. A huge mechanical click caught her attention and she watched as Jak loaded the huge gun and aimed at the nest.

"Precursor Stone. Gun. Nest!" A maniacal smile spread across his features as the gun powered up.

"Light 'er up, padre!" Daxter cried.

"HA! HA! HA! Eat this!" Jak laughed maniacally as the gun shot a huge green beam into the nest, drilling a path.

"That ought to wake 'em up!" The Ottsel grinned

"Let's go take care of business!" The dark elf said.

"What? You mean, go in there? Ahh, I'm right behind you!" Daxter gulped nervously as the three began to descend on the lift. Both of the women glared at Daxter.

"What?" He asked in confusion.

"You really need to toughen up Daxter, if your ever going to make it in this world." Krista said

He just shrugged as Jak pulled out his Morph Gun, toggling through all four of his guns. He saw the women's eyes bug out when they spotted the PeaceMaker.

"Oooo," they said excitedly.

For a while there was silence as they made their way to the metal head leader. The silence was disrrupted by the roar of Metal Heads inside the nest; Jak immediately loaded his guns. They easily made their way through the nest, leaving behind them a trail of dead Metal Head bodies. Jak was beginning to sweat as his muscles worked to keep them moving, shooting any Metal Head in sight. Jak could feel Dark Jak inside him, demanding to be let out so he could fell the blood of the Metal Heads on his claws. The four finally made it to a large, round area with a large, round pit in the middle, on the other side of the area, they saw the Rift Ring.

"Finally, you've decided to join us and you bought the Precursor Stone. Good." Kor appeared above the round pit, "The boy will now play his final part." They saw the small boy with green hair and large, innocent blue eyes and dressed in blue overalls with a white shirt under. He was the rightful heir to the throne and was currently unconscious in a black energy sphere near the Metal Head leader.

"Not this time," Jak growled.

"Oh, but this child is such a part of this! Such a part of you! Don't you recognize him?" The Metal Head laughed, "The boy is you, Jak! And this place... this is where you began, in the future!" Daxter gasped and noticed the similarities between the boy and his best friend Jak.

"But how...?" The dark elf growled.

"You were hidden in the past on the hope that you would gain the skills to face me today. But Onin was wrong!" Kor roared, "Now that you've been altered with dark eco, the stone will never open for you. Your younger self, however, still has the pure gift! He alone can awaken the Stone and the Precursor entity, which sleeps inside!"

"This stone is a Precursor?" Jak looked at the stone in his hand.

"The last Precursor egg! Mar was clever," the Metal Head lead hissed, "he covered his tracks well through time, hiding his last egg from me, and building the shield and city to defend it! It has been a long siege. But today, I will finally feed on the last Precursor Life Force!"

"Ah, I think you're forgetting one little thing, Metalo-Maniac!" Daxter snorted, "We've got the Precursor Stone!"

"Not for long!" Kor roared as he charged up and launched an energy blast at them, hitting the ceiling above them and making the rocks fall onto them.

"Jak!" Serena cried out as he was pushed to the ground. The Metal Head watched the pile of rubble and growled when Dark Jak burst out of the debris with the two ottsels held in his protective arms. He set them both down and Serena took out her own mini gun when she saw the numerous Metal Heads beginning to come in through the holes at the edges of the large area.

"I'll keep the other Metal Heads off your back," she said as she stared up into his pitch black orbs, "be careful, Jak." Daxter jumped back onto the Dark Eco Demon's shoulder as they separated.

"DIE!" Kor roared angrily and they engaged in battle.

Dark Jak leapt at the dangling Metal Head leader, attacking whatever he could get his deadly claws on as Kor tried to shoot at him. He tried to get all the vulnerable spots while being careful of the deadly tail. Daxter spared a glance at the two women and grinned as he saw them smirking devilishly while they attacked the Metal Heads. They were a flurry of kicks and flips, working their way around the circular area. Krista used a multitude of aerial attacks, flipping and shooting simultaneously, every time Daxter glanced over at her, he saw a whirlwind of destruction, but he could also see that she was beginning to tire out.

Kor apparently cared little for the fact that he was ripping his home apart. As the gigantic Hora-quan raced at Jak a moment later, he pondered his options, wondering what he could do to get the odds in his favor, and keep them there.

And it was then that he realized that Kor did have one weakness that he might take advantage of: his defenses were impressive, but he did have blind spots and areas where they didn't cover.

And so, it was with those weaknesses in mind that Jak charged at his foe once again. Kor lashed out with his talons once again, but this time Jak executed a diving role underneath them. So great was his momentum, in fact, the he went right up underneath the massive Metal Head, and he promptly jabbed his blaster into Kor's gut. He was then forced to dive out of the way as the Hora-quan tried to run him through with one of his legs, and nearly succeeded in doing so.

Needless to say, being stabbed in his underbelly did not help Kor's temper in the least bit, and he whirled around with enough speed to kick up a small wind in the chamber, getting the elf back in his sights so that he could try and crush him again. He spotted Jak quickly enough and he brought his fists down once more, rattling the whole chamber with the impacts as he tried to turn Jak into an elven smear on the floor. After putting many dents in the ground with those failed strikes, he reminded Jak of his tail, twisting it to where the stinger was curved downward, and then bringing it down at an angle. Jak ducked and rolled forward, barely managing to keep his head upon his shoulders as he heard the unnerving 'whoosh' that his foe's attack made as it passed overhead, missing him by mere inches.

Kor struck out once more, slamming his palm down in an attempt to reduce the channeler to a smear on the ground. However, the elf had had just about enough of being on the defensive, and realized that he needed to start attacking again if he was going to come out on top in this clash.

And so, as his foe once again tried to turn him into a two dimensional object, he just barely dodged out of the way, and then, tapping into his inhuman speed, he rushed up Kor's arm, making it all the way to his shoulder and shot a peacemaker blast into the unarmored joint.

The Hora-quan roared in pain, and brought his other hand to the wound, nearly squashing the elf in the process. Fortunately, our hero was able to get clear before Kor turned him into a two dimensional object, hopping off and once again diving underneath the gigantic Metal Head, before once again given Kor a dosage of his unique brand of acupuncture.

Krista and Renee were both too busy with the littler metal heads to relize what was going on with Jak and the metal head leader. Krista saw one of the larger flying metal heads on the wall about to shoot Renee. Using her cat-like abilities, she lept up onto the wall and began to tear the metal head apart, as if he was nothing more than a piece of paper. This both frightened both of the women and amazed them.

Jak leaped to the side as the massive stinger on the end of his foe's tail came sailing at him in an attempt to run him through. He avoided most of the blow, but didn't get completely clear, as it slashed through his armored trench coat, drawing blood and a hiss of pain from the elf. Still, Jak did not allow himself to focus upon the wound, and instead, performed a vampiric leap, getting himself up on Kor's back. He quickly dashed forward to where the Hora-quan abdomen melded into his chest, and began to hack away at the unarmored portion of the joint with Dark Jak's claws.

Kor, quickly realizing that he was now in a rather compromising position, began to thrash about in an attempt to dislodge the channeler. This had the result of Jak taking his gun in his left hand and jamming it in up into the metal head leader as a sort of anchor during the wild ride that occurred thereafter. All the while, gun was hacking away, drawing blood and eliciting roars of frustration and pain from Kor.

If one listened closely enough, one might be able to pick out the sound of Daxter cheering and whooping as Kor thrashed around like an animal at some sort of bizarre rodeo.

However, just as Kor reached the point where he was possibly considering using his tail on the elf, never mind the consequences of what would happen if he were to miss, he finally managed to dislodge him.

Jak kept a level head as he flew through the air, dispelling the blaster cartrige in his left hand, and spreading out said hand and both feet as he hit the floor to absorb the impact as he skidded for several feet before he was able to completely stop himself.

Once again, there was a lull in the fighting as both combatants tried to formulate new strategies and tactics.

Jak grumbled a bit inwardly, wishing that his memories of this particular part of his life were not quite so fuzzy, as the knowledge would have come in handy. Still, he supposed that he'd just have to make due with what he had.

He refocused he attention upon the now, mad Kor, as he came charging in yet again. As before, the Hora-quan struck out with his taloned hands at first, but as Jak dodged, his foe revealed that he was wising up on that strategy, and he lashed out with his tail. So great was the speed of the limb, that Jak knew he wouldn't be able to find the time necessary to build up the required focus to get out of the way, and so he simply twisted to the side, avoiding the razor sharp stinger blade on the end, but still getting a bone crunching smack from the scorpion like appendage.

Daxter, still watching the battle, let out a sigh of relief as his best friend proved that he was not yet down for the count. And deep down, he wished there was some way that he could help out, some way that he could do something, anything, to help tip the odds in Jak's favor. However, even had he been an elf, rather than cursed with this miserable and pathetic excuse for a mortal shell, he doubted there would have been much he could have done. And so, the Ottsel was forced to make do with having front row seats for the greatest clash in recent history.

The cables holding Kor up suddenly snapped and he dropped to the ground across from Jak and Daxter and began charging forward, the Dark Eco Demon noted that the metal head was heading straight for Krista.

"Krista!" Both Jak and Daxter yelled and the Serena noticed Kor barreling towards her, she fired at him as she began to back away but the bullets didn't slow him down. With a giant leap, the Metal Head leader was on her or so he thought.

All looked up at the ceilling to find Krista hanging onto a catalyst egg. "Hey watch it!" she yelled at Kor, who in return roared at her.

While Kor was distracted Jak transformed into Dark Jak and rammed into him, the force of the blow knocking him into the wall.

Renee, however hadn't gotten out of the way for Jak's attack in time and lost her gun and now had a sprained anckle. Jak then told Daxter to stay with her while he finished off Kor.

"No problemo, buddy," the rodent sighed in relief. With a dangerous growl, Dark Jak charged at the Metal Head leader with a vengence and attacked more fiercly, striking at the large Skull Gem, his weakest spot. The dark elf slashed viciously at Kor, inflicting gaping wounds in his body. With a final strike, the Metal Head began to flash and he desperately flew to the Rift Ring but fell to the side and exploded before reaching it. Kor's head rolled near the little Jak, Daxter, and the wounded Renee who Daxter was next to.

Jak felt the Dark Eco draining from his system and he returned to normal, he saw little Jak stand up and walk over to the fallen Precursor Stone and suddenly, an elf-like creature made of light jumped out, hovering over it.

"Oh man... a Precursor," Jak gaped at the figure of pure light.

"It is finished..." the Precursor spoke, "Our ancient enemy is no more. Take hope brave one! The terrible darkness inside you is now balanced by a glorious light! We will meet again..." The light being slipped into the Rift Ring just as the Lurker Balloon descended from the entrance to the the nest, holding the Rift Rider, the two Samoses, Keira and Brutter.

"We haven't much time. I've set the coordinates back to our village," Keira grunted as she tried to sit up, "Let's go home, everyone."

"But we are home," Jak said as he helped her up.

"Keira," Old Samos sighed, "I'm afraid your Rift Rider must be used to send young Jak here to a place where he will grow up safe from harm. He must become old enough to complete the destiny he has fulfilled today." Jak placed his younger self onto the Rift Rider.

"Wait a minute! It's you!" Young Samos exclaimed, "I mean... it's me! I have to take him back and watch over him, don't I? Ah, grub roots! Talk about being in the wrong time at the right place!"

"Hey kid... you take care. Oh... and trust me on this..." Jak leaned closer to the kid, "stay away from any wumpbee nests on your ninth birthday, okay?" Little Jak nodded at his older self.

"I sure hope I built this replica right. I don't know if it..." Keira frowned.

"It's perfect, Keira. This is the very machine we found... or will find later," Old Samos explained.

"What? I just built this. After seeing the first one, I mean. It's based on what I remember from..." Keira began to get confused.

"Honey, the more you think about it, the more it hurts the head!" Daxter laughed. The Rift Rider began to hover towards the Rift Ring.

"I'll take good care of the child!" Young Samos called to them, "And don't worry... I'll be back in time for the celebration! Fare well!" The young Sage waved as the Rift Rider disappeared into the ring.

"Thanks Samos," Jak smiled, "without you..."

"It's funny..." Samos chuckled, "the boy won't remember any of this."

"No..." Jak grinned as the Rift Ring began to crumble, " I do remember the light."

"Hey!" Krista began, "What about me!" Everybody looked up to see she was still hanging from the egg. Suddenly the egg began to hatch. This caused Krista to lose her grip, thus making her fall. Jak caught her just before she touch the ground. "Oh that's it!" she yelled at the newborn metal head, who looked like a miniture Kor. Grabbing Jak's gun and turning it on peacemaker mode she fired at the metal head. Causing the small creature to explode from the impact of the blast. However, she also caused a lot of the ground to also be blown up, thus small pebbles began to fall on top of everybody.

"Jak!" Daxter yelled, "Let's remember never to give Krista a peacemaker gun when she's offered one."

"Right!" Jak yelled back to his ottsel friend as they left the nest to go to Haven City.

SilverEyes18: Relax, there's only 1 chapter left!