Keeroshu: Yes, Daxter has hip moves that we mortals will never be able to use. -cries-. :P. And, hopefully to your approvement, I have decided to make the demon girl a main character, she will appear many more times. Good luck with your own work and update soon.

Red Mage 04: Yes, Daxter is ever the sarcastic perv. But that's what makes him so great. Anywhoo, I have decided that I will in fact put the Yellow Temple up first, as I don't want to match the Yellow Sage's Yellow with the Yellow Temple. Red will be the third. And you can be assured that there will be many a joke made in the temple. As for the email you sent me, I hope you recieved my response. Just in case, I'm posting it at the bottom of this chapter, sonce I won't be updateing for at least a week. Or reviewing, or signing on. Keep up the good work in you own chapter.

Meeting The Locals

Jak and Daxter climbed a hill. As they got closer to the top, a bad smell started to infiltrate their senses. By the time they had gotten to the top of the hill, it had turned into a full-blown stench.

"By the Precursors, what died and was left here to rot?" Daxter asked, holding his

nose. Jak personally agreed with him, the smell in itself was almost too much to bear, and he seriously considered for a second leaving this place.

"No, I can't back out now. Samos said that the Lurkers are trying to lift a large and powerful Precursor artifact out of the swamp. And I promised Samos I would try to stop them. I have to go in there and say that I at least gave it my best shot. And Keira will love it if I manage to do it." Jak thought as he slowly made his way down the hill. As he landed at the bottom, his feet started to slightly sink into the ground. He looked down and saw that he was in a swamp. He didn't know why he was so surprised, he had just never expected to have to struggle to move.

Jak looked around. He saw several crates, most likely containing Eco on top of a boulder sticking out of the muck. He flipped his goggles on and turned them into Eco Search. The crates were filled with Yellow Eco. Jak grinned, his Box was empty, and he had used up what little he had remaining from the demon and the Flying Lurker the day before. As he made his way to the crates, he noticed a problem. The rock was smooth and there was nothing to grapple on to. The only thing there was around was a branch about a foot above his head. But even if he climbed that, there would still be too much distance for him to jump. Suddenly, his mind thought back to his early gym days, back when he, Keira and Daxter were in kindergarten. He remembered the teacher telling them to run at the branch, grab it, and use their momentum to swing around it. After that, they were supposed to let go and fly across a small ditch and land on a pad. Jak shrugged, it couldn't hurt to try it in this case. He backed up and made a clenching motion with his fist to Daxter. Daxter confirmed he had understood that to mean "hold on tight." Jak ran and grabbed the pole. After swinging his body around, he let go when he was going up and his body spun around in circles. He landed neatly on the rock, if not perhaps too graciously or properly.

Jak sat up, trying to get the sensation that he was spinning out of his mind. He stood up and fought a wave of lightheadedness. He smashed the crates with his foot and absorbed the Yellow Eco Orbs into his box. Checking it, he was about three-quarters full. Jak jumped down and landed perfectly into the swamp again. He made his way over to a thicket, one that he was not very anxious to try and get through. He saw a fallen tree trunk and jumped as high as he could in the air. He took out his Hookshot, took aim, and fired. The hook dug into the wood and pulled Jak to it, across the very painful looking thicket. Jak got to his feet, not wanting to be off his guard very long in unfamiliar territory. In the distance, he saw a type of blue fire rising up into the air. As he made his way over to it, he suddenly felt a searing pain in his foot. Looking down, he saw that his foot had landed in some kind of black mud-like tar. He quickly yanked his foot out and saw that it was bright red and shining. He healed it with Green Eco and mentally made a note not to touch the substance with his bare feet again.

Jak looked around and noticed bits of what was probably once a bridge. He jumped from piece to piece, being careful never to land in the tar. As he made his way to the fire, which was now properly seen as a Blue Eco Vent, a quiet flapping sound reached his ears. He smiled, a few Lurker Bats were thinking to challenge him? Apparently, they would. No less that a dozen Lurker Bats flew out of the surrounding foliage in an attempt to make Jak lose his balance and fall into the tar. Jak stayed calm and picked them off one at a time. He made his way over to the Blue Eco Vent and relaxed, letting his body and his Eco Box become filled with the power. As he looked around, trying to see if he could spot the dirigible, a Launch Pad caught his eye. Jak stepped on it and jumped, the mysterious power of the Pad launching him into the air. He felt himself being guided to his left, so he leaned that way. He landed on another Launch Pad. Jak looked around and saw three Lurker Rats scamper. Jak panicked and started firing wildly. He killed two but the third one wriggled into a hole in the wall and escaped.

Jak mentally cursed himself out. Not only had he panicked and wasted Eco, but he had also allowed a Lurker Rat to escape, and that meant that within a few minutes the entire Lurker population in this area would know that he was here. Jak stepped into another Vent and stepped back on the Launch Pad. Jak flew into the air and landed on the original Launch Pad. He continued down the path and saw nine sharp cones sticking out of the ground. He tentatively took a step near them and nine poles shot up out of the ground. Jak's eyes widened; had he stepped on those poles, he would have been skewed. More poles rose up out of the ground and trapped Jak in a crude cage. Jak smiled; surely the Lurkers didn't think that this could contain him. He put his hand on the pole and Channeled Yellow Eco into it. The wood burned away, showing Precursor metal underneath. Jak's eyes widened; Eco had no affect on Precursor metal. This cage wasn't meant to hold him up, it was meant to trap him. If the Lurkers didn't come along and kill him, Jak would starve. Jak looked desperately through the gaps in the bars for a method of escape and saw a lever in the rock wall. Jak went to tap Daxter on his shoulder, but Daxter was gone. Suddenly, the poles dropped and a cocky voice broke the confused silence.

"Come on Jak. Do you really think I'm stupid or something. I don't know about you, but I'm not for starving to death in this place." Jak smiled and let Daxter climb back onto his shoulder. He heard a scampering sound and looked around for the source.

Jak saw about ten Lurker Rats glaring at him from their nest. Jak smiled; Rats were no threat, as long as they didn't bite you. It was common knowledge that Lurker Rats were poisonous. Jak charged up a blast and blew the nest up with one huge Yellow Eco blast. Jak continued walking through the swamp, one hand on his belt in case he needed to use Eco. Eventually, he spotted a boulder with a thick rope tied to it. Jak guessed that this was one of the ropes holding up the dirigible. Jak jumped into the pit, intending to cut the rope, and saw a giant lump guarding the boulder. As he got nearer, Jak realized that it was in fact a Lurker Berserker. Jak, terrified though he was at the thought of having to kill on of these behemoths, couldn't help but stare at it. It was sixteen feet tall, covered in armor, and in its chest was a Power Cell. Jak winced; the Power Cell probably gave it a lot of power. Jak sighed and then charged at it, intending to take it by surprise. The Berserker saw Jak running at it and smiled, amused. When leapt into the air to punch it in the face, the Berserker slapped Jak with a roar, sending him into a wall. Jak groaned and sat up; the Berserkers were much faster than the Warriors were, something he hadn't counted on.

Jak got to his feet and looked the Berserker up and down for any weaknesses. To his disappointment, he found none. The Berserker was armored from head to toe, stronger than anything Jak had yet encountered was, and they had that damn Power Cell in their chest. The Berserker drew a club out of its sling on its back and roared, swinging it around wildly. It swung the club at Jak, who was slightly intimidated by the fact that his adversary was wielding a weapon that was bigger than he was. The Berserker slammed the club into the ground and a shockwave threatened to throw Jak off his feet. He jumped into the air and tried to land his feet into the Berserker's face. The monster caught his foot and dangled him upside down. It then swung its club at Jak, who prepared to die. Fortunately for him, the Berserker lifted the arm holding Jak right before the club connected with his skull. The Berserker continued swinging and Jak was sure that eventually the club would hit him. Turning on his Blue Eco Box, he looked wildly around for something to levitate, but saw nothing big enough to distract the monster. Jak saw the club as it missed him -narrower than before- once more and decided to try that. The club glowed light blue and soared out of the Berserker's hand. The fiend paused in mid-swing and looked at its hand, which it was pretty sure had just been holding a club. It looked around, then up. It registered dimly that clubs shouldn't float above their owners. Jak made a motion with his hand and the club flipped so that its sharp side was pointing down. The weapon then pierced the Berserker's skull and it dropped down to the floor, dead. Jak shakily got to his feet and shot the rope tying the dirigible down to the ground. He then walked over to the Berserker and grabbed the Power Cell out of its chest.

Jak noticed that Daxter had yet to make a comment, and that was very out of character for him. Jak looked around and saw Daxter unconscious near a wall. Jak guessed that he had been flung off while the Berserker had been trying to kill him, hit the wall, and was instantly knocked out. Jak picked Daxter up and placed him in his bag. Jak then looked around, he had hit a dead wall, and from what he could see of the dirigible had four more ropes left, the thickest probably lifting whatever the Lurkers wanted from the swamp.

Jak looked around for a way to get to the other tethers, but he had arrived at a wall of solid rock. Jak didn't doubt that he could blast his way through, he could probably do it with very minimum effort. He decided to at least try to find another way before he drew even more attention to himself. He turned around and scanned the area as he walked, looking for another way. To his astonishment, Jak saw a path through the mountain that he had missed. Jak wondered how he had missed such a large opening; it was at least ten feet tall. Jak looked at the opening again and saw that it wasn't visible from the way he had been walking. Jak shrugged and entered it.

"Uh Jak, maybe we shouldn't go in there. It's dark, you might not be able to see where you're going and hurt yourself." Jak smiled at his friend's either thoughtfulness or cowardice; Jak wasn't quite sure. To relieve Daxter either way, Jak shot small Yellow Eco Blasts at torches he saw on the wall as he walked. After a minute of walking, the cave's lamps were lit. Jak and Daxter exchanged looks at this; someone, or probably more accurately, something was in this cave other than them.

Jak made his way cautiously through the passage, looking for anything that might appear out of place. Unwittingly, he stepped on a differently colored stone, and a similar trap sprung; poles lined with spikes shot up from the floor. Daxter calmly, "for once," Jak thought, looked for the lever. As much as he liked Daxter, Jak did think that his friend did tend to overreact over what he considered to be small things. After thirty seconds of waiting (though it felt much longer to Jak), Daxter lowered the cage bars. As they progressed further into the cave, Jak stopped and consulted his goggles, which were beeping softly. He saw highly concentrated amounts of Dark Eco in boxes. Jak thought and figured he might as well conduct an experiment and see what would happen to Dark Eco if he tried to blast it. He found the boxes and backed away twenty feet or so. Jak took careful aim and blasted the Dark Eco Boxes. Each one sent a minor explosion, but nothing more. Jak smiled, now he could dispose of any Dark Eco Crates he saw without risking injury or mutation to himself, Keira, Samos, or Daxter (in this last case, further mutation).

"Holy crap! Jak, did you even think about what you just did? You might have killed us." This thought had not occurred to Jak, who hung his head in shame. Seeing this, Daxter tried to cheer his friend back up. "Sorry about that Jak, I just get jumpy around Dark Eco. We didn't die, and now we know that we can destroy, or at least get rid of, the Dark Eco in our way." Jak smiled at this and nodded his head, happy that Daxter was no longer angry with him.

Jak went back to what he suspected was the main path; it was at least the largest. A scurrying sound reached Jak and Daxter's highly sensitive ears. Peering around the corner, they saw roughly twenty Lurker Rats looking for what Jak assumed to be him and his furry companion. Jak charged his hands with Yellow Eco and turned the corner, startling the Rats for a split second. That was all Jak needed, as he sent twenty or thirty beams from each of his hands, each one about as wide as his finger. They went in every direction, cutting through every Rat; most of them got multiple blasts through their bodies. Jak went on, carefully picking his way through the corpses. Even though he hated the Lurkers for all the senseless pain and suffering they caused, Jak had absolutely no desire to disrespect their dead bodies. Jak walked on and on, wondering if he would every reach the end of the cave. Just as this thought passed through his mind, there was a light, albeit a dim one. Jak headed for that saw something he sorely needed, a Yellow Eco Vent. He filled his Yellow Eco Box to the brim and continued. When he emerged from the cave a few minutes later, he saw a random Blue Eco Orb floating in midair. Jak was surprised; Eco Orbs usually did not happen for no reason. Jak looked around and saw a Launch Pad. Jak nodded to himself, this Orb must have been released by a Lurker to activate the Pad so they could get around. Jak took the Orb and absorbed it into his belt and then went on the Launch Pad and jumped while Channeling Blue Eco through his body. Once again, Jak felt himself being pulled in a specific direction, so he went that way.

As Jak looked down, his eyes widened. It wasn't for the Lurkers; this Launch Pad had been intended for him. As he got closer to the ground, the spikes got uncomfortably closer to his body. All of a sudden, a wild idea occurred to him. Gathering all of his Yellow Eco, Jak let off a blast that drained him of all his Yellow Eco. The force of the blast sent his body back into the air and over the ledge where the booby-trapped Launch Pad laid. Jak got to his feet, shaking. He had never thought that the Lurker's would use Precursor artifacts as booby-traps. He had known that they were constructing a kind of weapon, but to leave an artifact and actually build around it to make it deadly... Jak shivered again. He got to his feet and continued walking, much more carefully now. After a while, Jak saw a Yellow Eco Orb floating around in midair. Jak looked around and saw that there was nothing suspicious looking about this, so he absorbed it into his Yellow Eco Box. When he waited about thirty seconds and nothing had happened, he relaxed and let his guard down.

Jak saw the murky, black, tar-like substance from before and looked around for a way to cross it. He saw a bridge and walked onto it. It was very short, and it had a fifteen-foot gap in it. Jak saw another bar sticking out of the rock that covered one half of the bridge. Jak ran and jumped on the bar, pivoting his weight around as he had done before to keep his momentum up. He let go and spun in the air, landing correctly on the bridge unlike last time. Jak continued on the bridge, jumping over the small gaps as he went along. Eventually, Jak came to another pole. Jak spun on it and launched himself, but he realized almost before he started going down it was no good, he would land in the tar. Thinking quickly, Jak fired his Hookshot at another branch, much higher up, and was relieved when he heard the familiar sound that meant the hook had dug in. He didn't reel himself in; instead he did an intermediate technique he had read from the book. He flipped the switch on the blue part and lowered himself onto the bridge. He tugged on the chain and the hook fell. Jak then reeled it in before it could hit the tar: he didn't want to know what the corrosive power of the tar would do to what was quickly becoming his most useful weapon. As Jak neared the end of the bridge, it became elevated. Jak jumped off and landed in another basin. Looking around, he saw that he had made it to another tether, and to his dismay, another Lurker Berserker. Jak hoped that he would be able to defeat this one, as he had very little Yellow Eco, probably only enough to break the tether. On the other he had about two minutes or so of Blue Eco, which was an okay amount, and he was full on Red Eco. What worried Jak the most was he had almost no Green Eco, which meant if he got seriously injured, he would not be able to heal himself. Jak crept quietly up to the Berserker, which thankfully had not noticed him. Jak wondered if he could somehow combine the Berserker's obvious lack of intelligence with the element of surprise. Jak crawled around it and sat behind the boulder, thinking of a way to overcome this Berserker before it discovered his presence or did him serious harm. Suddenly, a roar made Jak jump in the air. He was picked up and thrown into a wall. Squinting through the massive headache he had, Jak had a second to see the Berserker's fist before it collided with his head, effectively knocking him out.

"Hey buddy. Jak? Hey man, wake up, it's me, Daxter." Jak's eyes fluttered open as he winced; he felt as if someone had been using his head as a substitute for a nail. He looked down and saw Daxter smiling at him cockily. Suddenly Jak remembered about the Berserker. After wondering how he was still alive Jak leapt to his feet, looking for his enemy. Daxter laughed. "Relax man. I took care of the Lurker. He hurled his sword at me and then I picked it up and..." Daxter trailed off: Jak was giving him a slightly mocking look that clearly said that he knew Daxter was being dishonest. "All right. The Berserker knocked you out and I yelled. It got distracted by my voice and swung it's sword at me. He missed and cut through the tether. I jumped off the boulder on that platform and he swung again. He cut through the wood and the boulder fell on him and shattered the armor on his chest. I'm pretty sure that his ribs cracked as well, as a matter of fact. Anyway, he just lay there gasping for breath. He died a couple of minutes ago actually."

Jak smile met Daxter eyes and Daxter saw that Jak, his hero, his best friend, was actually proud of him. Jak ruffled Daxter's fur and playfully bowed to Daxter, clearly trying to say "my hero." Daxter laughed with his friend and smiled, happy that he had finally taken a Lurker down, even if it was luck. They continued on their way into the swamp, first taking the Power Cell out of the Berserker's chest. Counting mentally, Jak tried to add up how many he had. He had twenty from Sandover, two each from the Gambler and Seddy, one from Farmer Zeb, one from the Sculptor, and one from each of the two Berserkers he and Daxter had taken down.

"So, how many we got?" Jak made ten twice and held up eight fingers. "Twenty-eight? Awesome. We should have enough to power the Levitation machine by the time we get out of here right?" Jak nodded confidant that he and his friends would be in the Red Sage's village in a couple of days. He saw a couple of wooden crates and broke them open, surprised at having miniature balls of Green Eco fall out. He used most of them to heal the major headache that he had but put ten or so into his box. Jak picked a path and trekked down it finally springing and avoiding another cage trap. A dozen Lurker Bats ambushed Jak again, whom calmly picked them off and continued, leaving their smoldering corpses in his wake.

Jak spotted heavy metal boxes surrounded by tar and his curiosity got the better of him. Blowing the boxes up, he discovered they were filled with Precursor Orbs, about twenty or so. Jak thought of a way to try to get them out of the tar, but he didn't want to risk getting hurt. Jak turned his Blue Eco Box on and tried to manipulate the metal into coming towards him. To his delight, the Orbs flew to Jak as if he was a magnet. Jak mentally remembered another use for his new power; he could manipulate (or at least move) metal that wasn't welded to something. He continued through the Boggy Swamp into yet another cave, but this one was very short. Other than using Red Eco to move a boulder to discover a Precursor Launch Pad and Yellow Eco to blow up about twenty Dark Eco Crates, the trip was fairly uneventful. Luckily, the Dark Eco Crates were close together, so Jak needed only to use one shot. He took the Launch Pad after contemplating whether it was a trap, and decided to take the risk. Before he jumped, Jak took out his Hookshot in case he needed to grapple onto something. Taking a deep breath, Jak activated the Launch Pad and leapt into the air and over the stone walls.

He landed in yet another basin, one different than the other two. This one had wooden walls lined with Lurker Scouts and Rats. This made Jak very uneasy. What countered this was the fact that there was yet another tether here. If Jak survived the ambush, and he had a very good feeling that he would, he would be able to take out the third tether, meaning only two more would remain. Jak landed and quickly started punching the Scouts that rushed to meet him. Not to be distracted, Jak Channeled Red Eco into his feet and stomped on the ground. This effectively caused a mini-earthquake, causing the Lurker Rats that had been creeping up on him. Jak decided to try a similar technique that he had used before with Green Eco. Using his feet to defend himself, Jak gathered all of his Yellow Eco between his hands until he had a highly concentrated blast between his hands. Jak leapt into the air and threw the ball at the ground. A massive explosion shook both the air and the ground and Jak and Daxter both covered their eyes as a blinding light filled the air. When Jak opened his eyes, he was standing in a crater about ten feet deep or so. Needless to say, the Lurkers and the tether had both had been completely disintegrated. Jak took the Precursor Launch Pad and landed back on the man trip.

"What do you mean Jak is in Boggy Swamp?" The old necromancer bellowed at his demon servant.

"He is apparently attempting to sever the tethers that are lifting the-"

"Do not speak of it. What if my other servants heard of this?"

"Sorry my master. If you wish, I will set out for Boggy Swamp, but by the time I arrive there, he probably will have cut the fourth tether."

The dark elf sat back on his throne and contemplated. "Very well. But you will need assistance if you are to succeed."

The demon bristled at this. "I do not need assistance, my lord. But I do not think that I will be able to defeat him with only one arm."

"That is what I meant by assistance." Dark Eco crackled around his fingertips and he shot it at his servant. The brute screeched with pain as a new arm grew out of its left arm socket. As she examined it, she saw that it had a sharp protrusion right above her wrist. As she flexed her arm, a katana shot out of her arm and extended two feet in front of her. With a bow, she teleported to Boggy Swamp and the dirigible's final tether. She sat on the boulder and waited for Jak to arrive.

Meanwhile Jak was still progressing through Boggy Swamp. After refilling on Yellow Eco at another Vent, Jak noticed yet another Launch Pad. He paused to wonder why this place was so plentiful in Eco and Precursor technology, but decided it was better not to ask, not that he could. Jak took the Pad and landed on a boulder with a rope. Jak looked up and saw that the rope was connected to the dirigible. Jak shot the tether and continued back to the path, elated that he was almost done. The sooner he finished the sooner he could leave this smelly swamp.

Jak landed back on the path and continued his journey through the quagmire. As he walked, metal boxes caught his eyes. He walked over to one and examined it. He rapped on it and was surprised to find it was made of real metal, not Precursor. Although Precursor metal was very strong, normal metal was very hard to come by, this one box must cost at least three hundred Precursor Orbs. Jak stopped thinking when Daxter interjected.

"Are you gonna ask the box to open Jak, or are you gonna blow it to bits already?" Jak stepped back and blew the box to bits. To his disappointment, there was nothing in it. Jak shrugged and continued on his way. Suddenly, his communicator went off. Jak took it out of his backpack and turned it on.

"Jak? Daxter? Hey guys."

"Hey baby. I knew you wouldn't be able to last long without talkin' to me."

"Daxter, be quiet. So Jak, I want you to tell me when you see a Precursor Trans-Pad. I'm gonna send the village Flut-Flut over to you. I would give you the Zoomer, but there's something wrong with it and I'm fixing it. It should be good by the time you guys get back." Jak looked around and saw a Trans-Pad about fifty feet away. He nudged Daxter and pointed it out.

"Yea, you can send it now, we're almost to it."

"Kay. Good luck guys."

As Jak and Daxter neared the Trans-Pad, they saw the Flut-Flut with a harness around her back. Jak walked up to her and patted her beak softly. The Flut-Flut bowed its head, a sign that Jak was allowed to mount it. Jak climbed up and tugged gently on the harness. The Flut-Flut took off as fast as it could go, jumping twenty feet forward at a time to get over the tar pits. After five minutes of wild riding, Jak got off and walked to Flut-Flut over to another Trans-Pad and nodded good-bye as Daxter called Keira and told her that the Flut-Flut was ready to be taken back.

Jak continued walking and spotted two Lurker Scouts guarding a crate. Jak snuck up behind them and smashed their skulls together, knocking them out. He opened the crate and saw a Green Eco Orb as big as he was. Jak stared at it for a second before absorbing the entire thing into his Green Eco Box and filling it up completely. Jak sat down and took a deep breath.

"Hey buddy what's wrong?" Daxter asked as Jak closed his eyes and opened them again. Daxter saw up close Jak was exhausted. Daxter went into Jak's backpack and pulled out a sandwich. Jak gave Daxter a grateful look and bolted the sandwich. Jak looked at the sky; it had been cloudy ever since he had entered here. Jak squinted and looked closer at the sky; he saw a curl of smoke in the distance. Jak got up and made a beeline for it. He was so intent that he didn't realize for thirty seconds that Daxter was standing back where he had sat down, a hurt look on his face. Jak went back and let Daxter climb up, an apology written all over his face. Daxter laughed at how Jak looked, almost like a kid that had been caught misbehaving. As Jak got closer to the smoke, he saw it was coming from a very small shack. Very tall though, Jak put it at thirty feet tall. It was only big enough for him to lie down across though, very peculiar design, Jak pondered. He spotted a man sitting in front of the house, holding what a bottle and one hand and what looked like a metal pipe with a piece of wood on one end. Jak walked up to the man, waving hello to show that he was friendly.

"Hey friends. The name's Billy. Billy Bob. What's your names?" He said in a very powerful hillbilly Southern accent.

"I'm Daxter and this is my friend Jak."

"Well, howdy, friends! Enjoyin' my beautiful swamp? I own these here parts." He said, motioning the surroundings with his hands. "Everything that doesn't sink into the mud, that is! He ha ha hah aha...!" He said as he went into a laughing bout, slapping his knee and taking a swig of whatever was in his bottle. Jak and Daxter exchanged looks that clearly said they were wondering about the mental stability of this man. Daxter leaned in and took a smell of the man.

"Judging from the smell, I'd wager your bathtub sank into the mud long ago!" He said, pointing at Billy with one hand and holding his nose with the other. Jak thought that Daxter was being a little rude, but could not help agreeing; it seemed as though the smell that plagued the swamp originated from this house, particularly the man inside it.

"...What's a bathtub?" Billy asked, scratching his head. Jak and Daxter exchanged looks of a mixture of horror and disgust. "Anyway, I got bigger problems now." Billy continued.

"Great. Now this guy is gonna ask me to do him a favor," Jak thought. He was right on the money in this case.

"Seems some nasty Lurker varmints are grousin' abouts snatchin' everything they can get their grubby little paws on. Scared away my pet Hip-Hog, Farley. He's been missin' for a nylon to a coon's age! I've been puttin' out his favorite snack, but those ornery swamp-brats keep stealin' 'em! If you could help me keep them pesky critters away long enough, I just know Farley would smell 'em and come back! Will ya help me out?" Jak thought for a moment and agreed.

"All right. You can stand over there in that Yellow Eco Vent and blast 'em as you see 'em. I'll take the right side." Jak nodded. After standing in the Vent for a minute, Jak saw the Rats begin creeping towards the snacks that Billy had put out. Daxter was eyeing the snacks hungrily from where he had been tied down; Billy said that he used a type of mushroom that was irresistible to rodents and Hip-Hogs. Jak started firing wildly at the Rats partly because he had an unlimited supply of Eco and partly because he wanted to win his bet. The deal between him and Billy was the one who killed more Rats got a Power Cell. After a few minutes of frantic shooting, Jak untied Daxter and the two of them made their way back to the hut, where Billy could be seen with an orange creature. Jak looked closer at it; he had never seen anything quite like it before. It had a Croca-Dog's tail, a hippopotamus' mouth, and the legs and body of a pig.

"Farley! Oh, thanks a lot for helpin' me out. How many of them critters did ya kill?"

"We killed seventy-four Rats. You?"

"Well, fry my hide! I only managed to gun down thirty-seven of them varmints. You sure know how to shoot! Thanks a heap for the help! Not only am I gonna give this here Power Cell, but I'm also gonna give you friends a night at my house."

Jak politely shook his head no, but Daxter spoke up for him. "Thanks a lot man. You don't know how tired we are; we've walked all the way from Rock Village."

The next day dawned and Jak woke up bright and early. The bed that Billy had given him made him feel very refreshed; who knew sleeping on tar wrapped in leaves would be so comfortable? He picked Daxter up and left a note saying thanks to Billy on the table. Putting Daxter in his backpack so as not to wake his fuzzy companion up. Jak climbed a wall scaling even higher than Billy's house, but that was where Billy had said the last tether was. Jak patted his belt: Billy had been kind enough to refill all of Jak's Eco Boxes; you really did meet the nicest people in the strangest places. As Jak reached the top, he saw the boulder on the ground below him. Jak jumped down to the ground, rolling at the last second so he didn't hurt himself or Daxter. Jak walked confidently to the tether, but stopped suddenly. He sniffed and a foreign scent invaded his nostrils. It smelled like Dark Eco, but it also smelled of something that was elfish. Jak turned around and saw the demon on the other side of the field. As if on cue, a wind picked up, ruffling their clothes and hair as they stared at each other, dislike etched into every line of their faces. Jak looked closer at the Legatee-spawn. He was pretty sure he had blown off this thing's arm, but there it was standing, both arms looking solidly in place.

Jak made a feinting motion with his body to his left. The demon took the bait and moved. Jak smirked and shot at it with a blast of Yellow Eco. His opponent leapt into the air and dived at Jak, claws extended. Jak activated his Blue Eco Box and halted the creature. He threw it into the mountain, but as it went flying, the monster grabbed Jak's wrist, so he was dragged along with it. The two of them smashed into the mountainside and quickly got up. The monster threw a punch at Jak with its left arm. Jak dodged to the outside of the creature, who smirked. It extended a sword from its wrist and made a slicing motion through the air. Jak was caught unprepared for this and paid for it dearly. As he slumped to the ground, clutching at the three-inch deep graze along his torso, the demon hit him with a sidekick in his ribs, breaking three of them. Jak hit the ground, his head spinning and his body aching. His hand weakly and slowly traveled to his Green Eco Box. The demon saw his movement and stomped on his arm, reducing the bones in it to resemble something from Pickup-Sticks. Jak's eyes bugged and he started thrashing around on the ground, his mouth open in a silent scream of pain and anguish. Suddenly the monster above him left out a roar and Jak prepared to die; there was no way he could block whatever the monster was planning next. He couldn't even move half his body without feeling terrible pain.

"Jak! Hurry up, I don't think I can keep this thing distracted any longer." Daxter cried out. Jak looked up from the ground and saw his adversary making frantic attempts to remove Daxter's teeth from its arm. Jak quickly moved his uninjured arm and hit the button on his Green Eco Box. He let out a sigh of relief as the recuperative forces of the Green Eco traveled through his body, removing all pain and injury. Jak lay on the ground, gasping for breath and taking stock of the situation. He had full Red and Blue Eco, but he had just used all of his Green and he had most of his Yellow. As he trued to think of a battle plan, a discontinuation of Daxter's screaming made him look up. What his saw made his brain become consumed with anger and worry: the demon had pried Daxter off of it and was pinching Daxter's throat. Daxter wriggled as his body fought for air, desperate to live. The demon had a sick smile on it as it watched the rat in its hands try to get away. Suddenly, it felt a tap on its shoulder. It turned around and was shocked: its opponent was standing, not a scratch on him and his eyes were blazing with fury. In fact, his whole body seemed to be giving off a reddish glow. Jak put one hand around Daxter's body and squeezed him gently, so as not to hurt his friend. He made his other hand a fist and socked the monster straight in its nose. The demon went flying back, holding its nose and Jak charged it. The fiend eagerly engaged Jak once again in hand-to-hand combat. Jak calmly blocked everything the demon threw at him, making sure that he blocked harder than was necessary. Eventually, the demon leapt back and rubbed her arm: Jak had severely bruised them with his powerful blocks. Jak used the last of his Red Eco to grab the monster by the throat and threw it into the ground. He then kicked it up into the air and grabbed its chest. Jak spun in a circle and threw it into the cliffside. He then rapidly fired all of his Yellow Eco in mini blasts until he was almost. He then used his energy to make a wide arcing shot that sawed the top of the mountain off. He then used the very last blast he had to shatter it into a bunch of pieces. He turned his Blue Eco Box on and levitated all of the pieces of rock. He sent most of them flying at the demon but used one or two to smash into the cliffside to get more. He continued like this until there was a small mountain of rocks over the demon and he was out of Eco. He put his hands on his knees and took deep breaths. Suddenly a rumbling sound made its way to his ears. He looked up and saw the demon burst out of the rubble, cut and bruised all over. It snarled at Jak, who made a growling sound deep in his throat and put his hands on his belt. He drew his Hookshot with one hand and put the other hand on his Eco Boxes. He knew full well that he was out of Eco, but he was hoping that the monster didn't notice.

Suddenly, the old man appeared in a puff of smoke. "Well done Jak, but I am afraid that I cannot allow you to kill my apprentice; I will have need of her." He turned around and put his hand on his tyro's head and they both vanished. Jak sighed with relief; they had bought his bluff.

"Jak! Daxter!" Jak's ears twitched, what on earth was Keira doing here?

"There they are Keira. Hold on, I'll levitate us up there." Samos and Keira floated up from the entrance of Boggy Swamp. Jak's eyes widened in surprise, he and Daxter had traveled in a complete circle. They arrived and Daxter gave them a story on all that had happened during the day before and the battle. Jak sighed and looked over at the tether; the final one. He took aim with the Hookshot and prepared to fire at it.

"Wait a second Jak, don't cut that yet." Jak looked over at Keira in confusion.

"According to the Blue Sage, the Lurkers stole a Blue Eco Cannon from his hut last week. He saw the Lurker Bats fly into this dirigible and was going to come here and put a stop to this. He disappeared before he could, unfortunately. But if we go up there, then we might just be able to find it." Jak shook his head and pointed at Keira, clearly saying it was too dangerous for her. Her eyes narrowed.

"Listen Jak, I might not be able to Channel Eco the way you can, but I'm a damn good fighter, and I'll be damned if I let you go up there without me. I helped defend the village, I brought my bow and arrows, and if you want to stop me, the you'll have to fight me. Do I make myself clear Jak?" Keira said furiously as she marched up to Jak and poked him in the chest. Her eyes were narrowed in anger but Jak could also see she wasn't really going to hurt him, he could tell a part of her wanted to laugh. He shuddered as she glared at him, all funniness from her eyes gone. He nodded feebly and gave a silent prayer to the Precursors that nothing happened to Keira. Jak lifted Keira onto his back and put Daxter on his shoulder. He helped Samos onto the tether then climbed up. He took aim with the Hookshot once again and sliced the tether in half. He and Samos then began their climb up the tether to the Lurkers' dirigible, and whatever laid up there waiting for them.

Well, I won't be updating for a while, but I will probably post something up on the 2nd or 3rd. I'm going away on a cruise and won't be able to update, but hopefully I'll be able to work on it and update when I get home. If you have any questions, comments (I sound like a food product) ideas, flames, etc. review and let me know. Thanks.

This is an email in response to a question Red Mage 04 sent me. You can read it, but it really doesn't do anything for you, it was in response to a question.

Dear Red Mage 04

From what I have gathered, I don't think that you will be sticking to the little Ottsels as Precursors. As for weapon ideas, I have shared with you anything I know, but I am flattered that you continue to ask me for help.

As for vehicles, I will consult my friend, he is highly knowledgeable about such things, while I am not.

If you are looking for powers for each soldier, I belive that I can help you with that. The Zealots are Red Eco based, so in addition to have them being incredibly strong, you should also make them of moderate speed. It is my understanding that Red Eco enhances the muscles, not just strength. If one's leg muscles were greatly advanced, then one's speed would greatly increase. Also, by me saying this, I am sort of giving you a sneak preview into my own story. As a unique attribute to them, why don't you give the Zealots the power of Gambit from the X-Men. Let them Channel Red Eco into a rock or broken piece of epipment, and within a few seconds, that object will detonate. They could blow up their enemy technology.

Dragoons are correctly used as light infantry, as they are light and speedy. Instead of giving them planes, why don't you let them fly. Blue Eco is the energy of motion, so why shouldn't they be allowed to move themselves through the air of their own free will. You could also give them Jak's power, the one in my story that is. You could allow them to levitate objects and send them hurling at opponents. This (when combined with the Zealot's power to make anything into a virtuall bomb), could be a very deadly combo. Another power you could give them is the power to take motion away from others. For example, lets say a tank is racing towards a Dragoon. By taking the motion away from the tank, the Dragoon renders it useless.

Reavors I unfortunately can't help you with, as I have given you all of my help with Dark Jak.

Archons sound very powerful, so I would not send them out very early. They could have the power of lightning, energy waves, time freeze, anything. Some people do not know that Light Eco does not really exist, it is actually a result of Red, Yellow, Blue and Green. This is why it has the properties of all of them, so that makes them very flexible.

Templars are correctly used as long range supprt troops, but I think that they can also use Yellow Eco in a fight. Why not let them Channel Yellow Eco into a the form of a sword. Or a shield. Another suggestion I have for you is to give them complete control ovdr the blasts they shoot. If they fire and they miss, let them control the blast and make it change direction. Also, you can make the bast be like a scythe, long, thin and sharp, letting them cut through anything.

Arbitars would definitly be the main target of the opposin army, so you should let them be able to shield themselves by Channeling Green Eco around themselves, much like Light Jak's Light Shield.

That is unfortuately all the assisstance I am able to provide, and I do hope that it was helpful. Good luck on your story.

Your fan and friend,

Farr2rich