Red Mage 04- Sorry about the spelling errors, but as odd is a legitimate word, my spell check didn't detect it. I'm glad you like it and hopefully I will be able to update a bit faster, since my Muse has suddenly returned. I couldn't resist putting the box part in, sure it's a cliché, but it's also a classic.
animedragongirl- I'm happy to see that you found my story worth reading, but I suppose the bad plot and the, as you said, "many errors," insulted you so much that you won't read anymore. I'm sorry if my horrible English skills (or lack thereof) had prevented you from continuing reading my story.
Disclaimer: I no own. You no steal. I no sue.
Battling Klaww
Jak popped out of the Warp Gate and saw he was back in Zeorro's hut. He heard a high-pitched scream, which didn't surprise him in the least after hanging around Daxter for seven years. What did make him turn around was the sound of something smashing on the ground behind him. He turned on his Yellow Eco Box and adopted a fighting stance. He charged up a blast of Yellow Eco, only to retract it instantly. Keira was standing in the doorway holding a china plate, hence the crash, with a sandwich on the floor.
"Jak! You're okay!" Keira squealed as she hurtled herself across the room and pulled Jak into a bear hug. Jak winced slightly as she tightened her grip across his chest; strong though he was, Keira was crushing his body, which had been through quite a lot that day. He pushed against her body slightly and she immediately and she immediately backed off, apologizing for hurting him. Jak was quick to pull her back into a gentler embrace, taking deep sniffs of her hair that was right in front of his mouth. Keira sighed into his chest: she had been very worried about him. She snaked her arms around his back once more and ran her fingers up and down his shirt, or rather, the remains of it.
"I wonder what he went through in that Temple, his shirt barely qualifies as a rag now," she thought as she ran her fingers up and down the smooth skin. Keira shivered slightly as Jak did the same to her, feeling her muscles tense and relax under his fingers' touch.
A throat cleared nearby and Jak and Keira immediately separated and looked over at the doorway to see what, or who, had made the noise that had broken them apart. Samos was standing in the doorway, red-faced for the first time in Jak's memory, and staring at anything except the two teenagers that he had interrupted. As the three of them looked at random items around the room, an embarrassing and uncomfortable silence erupted into the room. As usual, it was broken by none other than Daxter.
"So baby, where's my hello?" Daxter inquired, his cocky smile confidently etched into his face. Keira rolled her eyes at him, but turned red at the sight of Jak, who was staring hard at her face. She nervously bit her lip and quickly strolled into the kitchen, muttering something about getting something else to eat.
"Well Jak, it appears you survived the Eco Temple. I guess a ruined shirt is a reasonable price to pay in exchange for finding new powers. What did you learn this time?" Jak grinned and turned on his Yellow Eco Box. He gathered a ball of Yellow Eco and closed his fist over it. It shot upward from his hand, stopping after about two and a half feet. He moved his hand and his sword swung through the air. Samos stared in amazement at Jak's newfound abilities.
"By the Precursors... you can form an Eco Blade?" Jak shrugged and nodded. "Jak, you are rapidly becoming a very powerful Channeler. When we get to Volcanic Crater, where Santar, the Sage of Red Eco, resides, we should ask him to show you how to make better use of Red Eco." Jak shrugged and started to walk into the kitchen.
"Oh, by the way Jak, Keira and I were thinking that the two of us could try to tackle that monster in the Mountain Pass tomorrow. Is that okay?" Jak nodded and sighed. "But for now, you can rest up. I don't want you to get hurt tomorrow because you overexerted yourself today." Jak's face broke out into a relieved smile as he wandered into the kitchen and sat down. Keira was eating a sandwich across the table from him and she smiled at him as he sat. Jak leaned back and saw a number of raw chunks of Yakow suspended from the ceiling. He grabbed one and pulled it off the chain. He Channeled Yellow Eco through it until it was sizzling and crispy before devouring it within ten seconds. He looked over at Keira before dropping his eyes and imagining how good it would feel to be able to hold her again. A loud growling sound rang through the kitchen suddenly.
"How can you hungry after eating a whole Yakow leg?" Jak shrugged to show it wasn't his stomach. The growling sound went out again and they both looked down at Daxter, where the sound was loudest.
"What? I'm hungry." Daxter exclaimed as he walked out of the door with his nose in the air. Jak and Keira exchanged looks of bewilderment and then Jak shrugged and then stretched, yawning as he did the latter.
"You should go to bed Jak. The last thing we need is our 'big hero'," at this point Keira leaned in and batted her eyelashes at Jak, "to get tired." Jak grinned and walked out of the kitchen, pausing as he did so to remove the tatters and slivers of what, earlier that day, had been his favorite shirt and throw them in the garbage. Keira, whose gaze had up until this point been centered on the physique and muscles of Jak's back, looked at the table as she blushed. Samos walked in and pointed his staff at his daughter.
"You should go to bed as well Keira. It's late and we all have a busy day tomorrow."
"Okay dad. G'night."
"Goodnight Keira."
Jak climbed into his bed, not bothering to remove his armor or the ring around his chest. He closed his eyes and fell asleep, a familiar turn of events playing in his mind as he did so...
Jak was sitting on an odd machine, Keira was sitting down next to him, and Samos was examining a hole in the ground.
"Take care kid." This voice came from a very tall man with long yellow hair and blue eyes. He also had a green goatee. He was very strong, and for some reason felt familiar in some way. Then, the man slowly became older. His hair got even longer and turned white. His skin turned gray and his teeth became fangs. Jak retched back in horror; his hero had become the man he had seen on Misty Island.
The man let out a burst of insane laughter. "You think you have the power to defeat me? Just because you have a better knowledge of Eco? Fool." The man stretched his hand out and pointed behind Jak. Jak turned around and saw Keira, Samos and Daxter (in elvin form) all chained to a wall. "Now witness the glorious beauty of darkness." The old man proclaimed as a stream of what appeared to be Dark Eco flowed from his hands and coursed through them all. Jak watched in horror as his friends writhed in pain as they slowly transformed into pale face demons with fangs, claws and horns.
"They... they've turned into his servants." Jak thought as despair began to cloud his mind. Jak ran over to Daxter, who threw him into a wall and then went to bow down to the man. Jak went to Samos, who was also bowing down. Turning around, Jak saw Keira in her demon form, staring at him. Jak grabbed Keira and shook her shoulders as he stared deep into her black eyes, desperately looking for a trace of the girl he liked. The demon smiled at him as she put a hand on his chest, and Jak sighed in relief. His sigh quickly turned into a gasp as pain erupted in his chest. As he looked down, he saw the arm of what had been Keira sticking through his chest. Jak looked up to see hatred and revulsion etched into Keira's face as she twisted her hand, ripping his innards out. Jak fell to the ground, hugging his body as he stared up at his friend. Keira looked down on him, pure pleasure from his pain written all over her face. She licked her claws from his blood and then strolled over to the monster that had mutated her. She threw one last look of vindictive pleasure at Jak before bowing and proclaiming her allegiance to the man that had destroyed her soul.
The old man laughed psychotically. "This is your future. This is what your destiny is, what your friends are doomed to become." Jak struggled to get up, but the blood loss made him close his eyes. His last thought before he died was one of regret; he had failed to protect Keira.
Jak sat up, covered in sweat. He looked around his room in fear, wondering why he had the dream again.
"Hey buddy, breakfast is now. If you wanna have bacon and eggs, you better get you're ass out of bed," Daxter called from the next room. Jak nodded out of habit, his mind was still seeing Keira's hand plunging through his chest and shredding his internal organs. He tore his mind away from this horrible image as the scent of fried bacon and eggs wafted across the room and invaded his nose. He stood up and stretched, wincing slightly as he did so. The previous day had taken its toll on his body, and all of the bruises he had recieved the day before had finally caught up to him.
"Morning Jak," Keira said brightly as Jak entered the kitchen. Jak smiled and nodded his own greeting.
After breakfast, Daxter was placed, asleep, gently on the couch by Jak. He had once again invited Samos' wrath by suggesting that Samos be the one to destroy the monster up on Mountain Pass by saying that Samos' "face alone should be enough to make the thing scream in terror and go back to its mommy." This comment brought tears to both Jak and Daxter. While Jak had recieved them from laughing, Daxter's tears originated from the crack in his skull he had gotten from Samos' wooden staff.
"Well, I'm going into town for a while so I can find out anything about Zeorro's disappearance and the monster on Mountain Pass. I'll also try to pick you up a shirt Jak, seeing as how yours is ruined." Jak and Keira nodded as Samos left them alone in the house.
"Oh dad. Could you meet us back here at three 'o clock. That way we'll be able to make it to Volcanic Crater before nightfall, hopefully." Samos nodded as he walked out of the house and made for the village.
After finishing the last scarps of food from breakfast, Keira said she had to go work on something, so Jak wandered around the house for a bit. He finally went outside and decided to train using his new "Eco Blade," as Samos called it. He formed his sword and began a series of moves the Warrior had taught him two years ago after the attack on Sandover.
Keira sighed, after two hours of work, she had finally managed to complete the blueprints of her latest invention. After rolling the blueprints up and putting them under her pillow, she meandered around the house looking for Jak. Unable to find him, she decided to go outside to see if he was enjoying the fresh air. She walked into the Blue Sage's backyard to find him training with what seemed to be a sword made out of Yellow Eco. His back was to her, and she watched how his back muscles flexed and tightened as he moved gracefully across the field. She gazed in awe at how he made the sword slice and cut through the air in offensive techniques, and then shift gracefully into defensive blocks and parries. Not only was he moving his arms as if they were made out of liquid, but he was also jumping and pirouetting his body almost as if he were dodging imaginary weapons.
Keira let out an audible gasp as Jak narrowly avoided slicing his left leg off and immediately Jak spun around as he summoned another sword. He withdrew both of his blades when he saw it was the object that was the light of his life.
"When... when did you learn how to do that?" Jak pointed to the Yellow Eco Temple off in the distance. "Did you learn anything else there?" Jak shook his head. Keira once again could not help but stare, very openly for that matter, at Jak's finely toned body. She wondered how he was so strong when his body was so small, lean, and wiry.
Jak started to feel uncomfortable under Keira's unrelenting stare and he cleared his throat. Instantly, Keira's eyes slid back into focus and she smiled once again at Jak. Jak walked up to Keira, who was currently wondering what it would feel like to be in Jak's arms when he wasn't wearing a shirt. His hand closed over hers and he pulled her slightly. Keira went along with him, knowing Jak would never allow any harm to come to her.
Jak lead her inside the house and brought Keira to the room where she had been sleeping. He opened her closet and pulled out a bright red one-piece. "Are we going swimming?" Jak smiled warmly and nodded at her question. Jak left as she got undressed and changed into his own black bathing suit. He grabbed a couple of towels and walked outside, waiting for Keira.
As she came out of her room and went outside, Keira noticed that it was only eleven 'o clock, meaning she and Jak had four hours before they had to try to tackle that horrible monster. Jak was smiling as she emerged from the house, and she saw his eyes flitter down and look at her body before settling back on her face. He handed her a blindfold and she looked at him curiously as she took it. A grin satisfied her and she put it on without question. Jak picked her up, with her against his back, and took off, his arms wrapped around her legs so she wouldn't lose her balance and fall off. After a few minutes, Keira asked Jak where they were going. He shrugged his shoulders and shook his head, and she pouted. Ten minutes passed in complete silence before anything happened. Keira was suddenly snapped away from thinking how nice Jak's back felt pushed up against her chest when she felt Jak's body shift as he began walking downhill. He finally set her down and took off the blindfold.
"Oh Jak...," Keira breathed as she looked at the spectacle before her. Jak had brought her to a small lake, complete with a miniature garden. She looked around at the small birds flying around and wished she could somehow capture this moment on a piece of paper. She walked over to the lake and slipped a foot in. To her delight, it was pleasantly cool, not cold, and felt refreshing. Abandoning all pretenses, Keira suddenly whipped around and grabbed Jak. She fell backwards into the lake, dragging him with her. They resurfaced, Keira laughing at Jak spitting out water and struggling to get his balance on the soft ground below. As he stood up and glared at her in a playful way, he suddenly lost his balance and fell face forward into the water. Keira clutched her sides as the hero of Sandover rapidly rose, trying to act as if nothing had happened. He grinned mischievously at the sight of Keira laughing and slipped underneath the water.
Keira wiped the tears of laughter from her face and looked around. Everywhere, the surface of the lake was smooth, but Jak was not in the water, nor was he on land. Suddenly, Keira felt herself get dragged under water. When she came back up she saw Jak in front of her grinning a grin the Grinch would have been green-eyed of. She jumped up and put her hands on his shoulders, forcing his head under the water as she effectively dunked him. Keira laughed in triumph, only to scream as Jak wrapped his arms around her hips and threw her into the air.
They wrestled for a few more minutes, each dunking the other numerous times, before Keira threw up her hands and choked out, "enough, enough. You win, Jak." Jak stuck out his tongue and did as little victory jig, which sent Keira into fresh peals of laughter.
Two hours later, Jak and Keira crawled out of the lake, thoroughly exhausted, and onto the grass. They lay down next to each other and smiled, weariness apparent in their eyes. Keira wiggled closer to Jak and leaned against him. They closed their eyes and let out a sigh of content as sleep invaded their minds.
Jak opened his eyes an hour later as something small and furry crawled across his face. He looked down to his chest to see Daxter, smiling like a maniac and shaking his head.
"Samos wants you guys back at the house; he says it's high time we kick some Lurker ass."
"Oh geez, we must have fallen asleep!" Keira exclaimed as she leapt up. Jak joined after her, picking Daxter up and setting him on his shoulder as he ran to catch up with Keira.
"Where were you two? I've been waiting for half an hour." Samos asked as Jak, Keira, and Daxter entered Zeorro's hut.
"Oh , Jak took me to a really cool lake."
"That sounds nice, but now we have to go and stop that Lurker from destroying Rock Village." Jak and Keira nodded in agreement and quickly changed. They went back to the docks and this time crossed the pontoons the Warrior had put back. Keira immediately inspected the part of the machine where the Power Cells were supposed to go. Jak handed her all forty-five Power Cells and she placed them inside the machine.
"The cells for the machine outta provide enough power to lift that boulder!" Keira said as she focused the levitation beam at the boulder. With a loud humming sound, the boulder was lifted off the ground, unsealing the path to Mountain Pass.
"There we go! Now, be careful facing that monster Lurker at the top!" Keira said as Jak and Samos prepared to climb the mountain. Suddenly, a scream made everyone turn around. Lurkers had crawled out of the water and were swarming all over the village. Jak and Samos exchanged looks of horror as dozens of Scouts, Generals and Worms terrorized the town.
"Jak, you deal with the Lurker at the top, I'll go and help the village." Jak nodded and started to climb the mountain, looking back at Keira. "Keira, you stay here, I will not let you become involved this time. The Lurkers haven't noticed us and I think it would be better if it stayed that way." Keira frowned but nodded, not wanting to waste any time. Jak picked Daxter up off the machine and prepared once again to climb the mountain.
"Wait!" Daxter said suddenly. "Uh, I'll stay here and protect Keira. Jak, I think you're ready to handle that monster without me."
"Oh, really heroic," said Keira as she rolled her eyes. Daxter saw the puddle of sarcasm ooze out of Keira's mouth and onto the floor and sighed. He scampered up onto Jak's shoulder, who began climbing the mountain leading to the monster at last.
Twenty minutes later, Jak and Daxter reached the summit of the mountain overlooking Rock Village. The two of them turned around to survey the town. To the delight of both of them, albeit there were a lot of Lurkers everywhere, there were also numerous bright green explosions. This confirmed in their eyes that Samos was alive and fighting. Jak turned around and walked across the summit of the mountain, heading towards the dip that resided behind it. As Jak reached the end, he noticed how the temperature seemed to rise and how the walls seemed to glow red. Jak turned a final corner and came face to face with the monster that had been terrorizing the inhabitants of Rock Village.
It was beyond disgusting in Jak's opinion; fifty feet tall, its skin a dark purplish blue, with red eyes and dripping fangs easily three feet long. Its left arm was the thickness of a house, with three fingers the size and length of Jak's body. Its right arm looked as if it was torn off of a Precursor robot, and it seemed to be a perfect fit. This did nothing to lighten Jak's mood; on the contrary, it made him feel even more apprehensive about facing this thing. It had a twenty-foot wide chest, legs were submerged in lava, and a head that resembled more a boulder covered in black hair than anything else. Two gigantic horns stuck out of the head; each easily being seven feet long.
As Jak moved forward hesitantly, it caught sight of what it considered to be a small, puny, and insignificant elf with an orange rat that was having trouble keeping control of certain bodily functions sitting on its shoulder. It let out a deafening roar and bellowed, "Klaww smash!" It reached down and sunk the fingers of its real hand into a boulder and dug its fingers into it. It threw it at Jak, who quickly used Blue Eco to run as fast as he could to his left. He leapt into the air as a shockwave from the impact of the boulder forced the ground to rise up. As Jak leapt, Klaww made a grabbing motion in the air, clearly intending to crush Jak's body. Jak flew upwards and landed on Klaww's arm, turning his Red Eco Box on as he did so. He Channeled every bit of Red Eco into his right fist and punched the gigantic Lurker square in the nose. Unfortunately, this attack did little more than to piss Klaww off.
Samos charged into the village, eyes blazing from a mixture of anger and power. As he drew near a family surrounded by Lurker Wolves, he charged up a ball of Green Eco and threw it at the Wolves. One by one they exploded, until the sky was filled with falling body parts.
"Let's go. Now is not the time to cower and hide. Now is the time to fight back and reclaim your village as your own." Samos said, pulling the father up roughly.
"But, Liz... my kids..." the man protested.
"I will personally see to it that no harm comes to them. Take this staff and go out and fight for your village. I want you to bring any elderly, young, and female elves here for protection, but any fit men will stay and fight." The man stood still, staring at Samos' staff. Samos' eyes narrowed and his tone became significantly harsher. "That's an order soldier," he barked, his voice no longer that of a wise sage, but of a general that demanded respect.
"Yes sir!" The man responded, his body changing. His eyes became confident, his body calm, and the staff came to rest on his shoulder. He ran off and Samos watched him thoughtfully before turning around to face the three other elves.
"I want you all to close your eyes and join hands," he said as he sat down. Samos closed his eyes as he moved his fingers into complicated patterns. After thirty seconds of this, he placed his hand on the mother's head and stepped back. A shield composed of Green Eco now protected the three elves.
"This shield is telepathically linked to your thoughts. An outsider may penetrate the shield only if you will it. Please do not allow emotions or grudges to cloud your judgment: any who are left outside the shield will perish." Samos explained before turning around to try to find more villagers.
Klaww roared, "Crush elf!" and curled his robotic arm into a fist. He threw a punch at Jak, not quite realizing that if he missed he would wind up hitting himself right in the face Jak turned around in time to see the fist coming at him and quickly jumped up and aimed back towards the ground. Klaww let out a bellow that contained both rage and pain as he rubbed his nose with his real hand while aiming his prosthetic Precursor one at Jak. He curled the fingers into as fist and bent his wrist down. A slot opened up in the forearm and a cylinder shaped object rose up. Klaww let out another howl as he aimed the curious object at Jak and tightened his fist. Immediately, a gigantic beam of Yellow Eco issued forth; its target a certain Channeler.
Jak leaped into the air and flew over Klaww, narrowing avoiding being grabbed again. As he landed, Klaww fired another beam, but this time aimed high above Jak. Jak looked up as a beam of Yellow Eco collided with the mountain, sending a shower of boulders raining down upon Jak. Jak quickly turned his Blue Eco Box on and levitated all of the stones and hurled them back at Klaww. They never reached their target, due to the fact that the humongous Lurker melted each and every one of them by breathing fire.
As Samos ran past the docks, he spotted a person who could turn the tide. A powerfully built elf covered in armor, with a sword and shield to boot. Samos cringed inwardly as he noticed that the warrior was in fact sitting in a fetal position, sucking his thumb.
"Get up! You're village needs you," Samos barked. The warrior did nothing except to curl up into a tighter ball. Samos sighed and shook his head before looking around; even though the villagers had more will and fighting abilities, the sheer number of Lurkers were beginning to overwhelm them.
"Sir!" the first man Samos had recruited said as he drew near.
"What is it soldier?"
"We're... we're being pushed back sir. I don't know how much longer we'll be able to last." Samos heaved a deep sigh as he leaned heavily on his staff.
"Where are you Jak? We need you here." Samos muttered as he went to tend to the injured.
"Damn it. How in the name of Legatee am I supposed to kill this thing?" Jak thought as he dodged yet another Yellow Eco beam. As Klaww lowered his robotic arm, Jak landed on it and summoned two Eco Blades. He leapt on top of Klaww's face and stabbed him in the eyes. The Eco sunk right through his flesh and black blood spurted from the wounds. Jak back-flipped, only to be caught and stuffed roughly into Klaww's mouth and swallowed whole.
Samos and the villagers prepared for the end as five Lurker Berserkers charged, sending all hopes of victory out the proverbial window. Samos sat down, trying to regain some energy; healing everyone repeatedly had sapped him of his Eco powers. The Berserkers roared in triumph as they got closer and closer. Samos sighed: it was no use; he couldn't summon any energy. What tore at his heart particularly was the thought that if he died, the shield he had erected would dissolve, leaving those inside exposed and defenseless.
"Jak!" Daxter screamed as he saw his best friend be swallowed whole by the monstrosity in front of him while he sat safely on the ground. Klaww heard him and turned around, looking around for the source of the sound. He spotted Daxter and greedily reached for it. Daxter stood still as a stone, paralyzed with fear as Klaww's massive hand got closer and closer. When he was less than a foot away, Klaww suddenly retracted his hand and put it to his heart. Daxter looked closer at Klaww's chest as he screamed in pain and tore at his chest, apparently trying to get at something that was beneath the skin. Daxter narrowed his eyes as he saw a thin yellow pin stick poke out of Klaww's chest. It moved in a circle until a large chunk of flesh popped out of the monster's body. To Daxter's relief, Jak leapt out of the circle just as a massive squelchy-looking object hit the lava and began to disintegrate. Klaww screamed and clutched his chest as he fell into the lava and sank down.
As the Berserkers charged, Samos closed his eyes and braced for the end. Suddenly, a boulder that must've been thirty tons rolled along the street, crushing not only the Berserkers but half of the others as well. Samos looked where it came from and saw Keira leaning against a hut with a cocky grin on her face to rival Daxter's.
"Thought you guys might need some help," she said as she pulled out her bow and arrows. Samos beamed and roared for the villagers to attack, a command that was happily obeyed. With the majority of the army gone, the remaining Lurkers were killed within a matter of minutes. As the last Lurker fell, most of the men went their wives and children, while the rest started a huge fire and started roasting meat.
Jak fell to the ground, catching his arm on the side of the mountain. He dug his fingers into the stone and pulled himself up. Daxter gasped as he saw just how much of a beating Jak had taken while inside Klaww's innards. Jak collapsed and started to pass out from blood loss as blood flowed freely down his arms and legs, out of his chest, and from over his eyes. Daxter quickly ran to Jak's waist and turned on the Green Eco Box, sighing with relief as he watched Jak's body heal itself. As Jak healed, his eyesight went back into focus and he started feeling hungry.
Very hungry.
Jak stood up and bent down so Daxter could get onto his shoulder. Jak crouched down, and then leapt into the air, flying back towards the village. As the wind whipped through the air, Jak yearned to let out a whoop of glee; he had defeated the monster, he was flying, and from the looks of Rock Village, not only had everyone survived the attack, but they had also lit a fire and started a party. Jak saw two people, one tall and one short, on the outskirts of the party. Even though he could not make out any identifying features, he could tell it was Keira and Samos. The two of them waved as Jak approached and he waved back.
"Good job Jak, you destroyed the monster. I'm going back to the house to rest; it was hard for this old man to defeat three hundred and forty seven Lurkers single handedly. The villagers helped of course, except for that cowardly warrior. He started crying as the Lurkers swarmed on him." Jak nodded and nudged Daxter with his foot, telling him to go back with Samos.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah. I'll see you tomorrow Jak." Daxter said with a huge yawn.
"C'mon Jak, let's go party 'till we cant tell the difference between a Croca-dog and a Yakow." Jak grinned at Daxter as Keira dragged him off towards fire and food. Jak quickly sat down and pulled every dish within reach towards himself hungrily. He began devouring the food, savoring the rich taste of the meat while paying attention to the celebration. Keira sat across from him and giggled as she saw him continue eating with food and grease all over his face. "This is the mighty hero? If you looked at him you would just think he was a normal kid." Keira thought. Suddenly music erupted by the fire and Keira's eyes lit up.
"C'mon Jak, lets go dance," Keira said as she grabbed Jak. Jak frantically shook his head, but Keira dragged him out to the dance floor anyway. After a few seconds of dancing, Keira opened her eyes and saw Jak standing still, his face red. "What is it Jak? Don't you know how to dance?" Jak shook his head and stared at the ground. Keira burst out giggling and she grabbed Jak's hands. She held them in her hands and she danced, indicating for Jak to mirror her movements. Jak, slowly and hesitantly at first, began moving his feet back and forth, shaking his hips, and letting his arms flow. Keira grinned as Jak became more confident, and together the two of them quickly became the stars of the party, or at least the most noticed, due to the fact that Jak eventually tripped over his own feet and stumbled backwards, falling right into a giant bowl of fruit punch. Keira walked over to him and took the bowl off his head, trying very hard not to laugh.
"Let's go home Jak. We gotta get up bright and early tomorrow so we can make out way to Volcanic Crater." Jak nodded, his face red. Some of the color had come from the punch, while the majority of it was from the blood that filled Jak's cheeks. They made their way to Zeorro's hut, both thinking wistfully of the beds that awaited them there.
Bright and early, everyone woke up and Jak fried some leftover Yakow from the party the night before. Afterwards, Jak put Keira and Daxter on his back after teleporting the Zoomer to the beginning of Mountain Pass. Jak climbed on and Keira followed, swathing her arms around Jak's chest. Jak revved the Zoomer and took off, the wind in his face awaking him fully and putting everyone's senses on high alert. As he left the lava behind, the ground became softer and grass started to grow. As Jak neared the beginning of Mountain Pass, he spotted three Lurker Flyers, Flyers that took off at the sight of Jak.
"Oh no," Keira exclaimed. "It looks like the Lurkers have rigged the path with explosives. We have to reach Volcanic Crater before them and kill the Lurker with the detonator, or else they'll blow up the whole passage." Jak nodded and gunned the motor, causing the three of them to accelerate after the Lurker Flyers. Unfortunately, Jak had slowed down significantly when he had spotted them, since he wanted to avoid a fight, giving them quite a head start.
Jak sped over the grass of the Mountain Pass, making a sharp right at the end of the straightaway. As he turned, Jak leaned back against Keira as he went up a hill, causing the Zoomer to effectively jump at the end. Jak looked down and saw a gigantic explosive, it was as tall as Jak, and about two feet in diameter. The three of them shared a collective gulp at the thought of what would happen if they failed and the Lurkers set off the bombs. Jak leaned to the right to avoid a tree branch, causing the Zoomer to rotate to the right while moving in the same direction. As they completed the complete turn, Jak drove through a Blue Eco Vent, causing the motor to run faster, while at the same time cooling everything down so nothing overheated. Jak immediately veered to the right to avoid another bomb. He turned around to look at it, but Daxter's scream made him turn around and steer left instantly; he had been heading right for a stack of Dark Eco Crates. Jak entered another straight part of Mountain Pass and saw a hill coming up. At the top of the hill, Jak saw one of the Lurker Flyers detach itself from the other two and fly onto a section of the path that was much higher than the rest. Jak thumbed the switch for the vertical thrusters and took off, landing on the segment with ease. Jak turned the throttle all the way to the max and he started coming up on the Flyer. Jak grabbed Keira's hands and put them on the steering wheel and leaned out of the way so she could see. Jak struggled to keep his balance as he lined up a shot and fired a beam of Yellow Eco right through the torso of the Flyer. He leaned back onto the seat and Keira sighed with relief: piloting the Zoomer at sich a high velocity made her more than a little uneasy.
Jak took control of the Zoomer and came out of the hidden passageway, narrowly avoiding hitting another bomb as he did so. He piloted the Zoomer through the Mountain Pass with expertise, steering left and a sharp right accordingly. After jumping another small hill, Jak landed and immediately veered to the left to avoid being blown up, causing the Zoomer to rotate counter-clockwise. As it spun, Jak steered to the right and then to the left to avoid two more bombs. Jak looked ahead and saw a large hill approaching. He gunned the accelerator and finished the assent at high speed, causing him to fly over a fifty-foot chasm. Jak looked on his radar as it started beeping and saw that there was a Power Cell on the ground in a hidden passage blocked by a boulder. Jak found the boulder, and two Eco blasts, one from his hand and one from the Zoomer, were enough to reduce it to dust. Jak held Daxter by the tail, and a slight tug on his arm told him Daxter had done his job well and had snatched the Power Cell. Jak saw the second Lurker Flyer and deduced happily that he was catching up to them. Jak handed Keira his Hookshot and pointed to the Lurker. Keira nodded and tried to hold it steady as Jak fell behind the Lurker, keeping up with its pace rather than speeding up. Keira fired the Hookshot and the metal arrowhead sunk into the flesh of the Lurker, ripping a good sized hole in it and insuring it would never fly again (or do anything else, for that matter). Jak steered through the trees, never daring to slow down for fear of not being able to catch up with the remaining Lurker. Eventually, Jak saw the beginning of some caves that said they were getting closer to Volcanic Crater. Jak willed the Zoomer to go even faster now that both he and the Lurker were on the final stretch, with Jak at a serious disadvantage.
Jak steered the Zoomer around a gigantic hole in which he could see many types of crystals. For a second he considered snatching one for Keira, but he quickly stamped on that: how was he supposed to get a jewel while piloting the Zoomer? The whole cave narrowed as a blue light at the end got brighter. At the end, when it was only big enough for the Zoomer itself, Jak put the Zoomer through three Blue Eco Vents in a row. He almost lost grip on the handlebars as the Zoomer's speedometer broke, signaling that they were going well over a hundred miles an hour. Jak saw a brighter, redder light and immediately put the brakes on, catching sight of the final Lurker as he did so. As the Zoomer slowed down and honed in on the final Flyer, Jak ripped it apart by making the same slashing motion the wolf-like creature had made in the Yellow Eco Temple. Jak jumped off the Zoomer and drop-kicked the startled Lurker General that had been guarding the switch.
He turned around and saw the Zoomer stop right in front of him. He almost laughed himself silly at the sight of Daxter; his fur sticking straight up and shaking. He ignored the following rant from the Ottsel about careful driving and whatnot, choosing instead to extend his hand to Keira, who graciously accepted it. As Jak picked Daxter up, he noticed immediately that Volcanic Crater was a lot hotter than any town he had yet encountered. As he walked into it, he understood why: it was built around an active volcano, hence the name and the immense heat. Jak instantly spotted Santar's hut. It was pretty easy to distinguish it from everything else, seeing as how the nutcase of a sage had decided to build on a rock sticking out of the lava in the center of town. He walked in, and noticed the place was even messier than Zeorro's: the books he kept were strewn everywhere, a window was broken, burn marks littered the floor, and there seemed to be fingernail imprints in the floor leading to the Warp Gate. Jak found the switch and turned it on, causing that weird gas that seemed to be a mixture of Dark Eco and something brighter to fill the circle.
Sorry this is late; I would have had it up Friday night but my Internet connection got knocked out and it didn't come back on for a while. I might be able to go back to updating every Sunday, since I work on this during study hall, school starts this week. Anyway, if you guys, or girls, have any questions, comments (wow, I sound like a food product), ideas, flames, insults, etc., just review. I will greatly appreciate it.