Red Mage 04- Thanks as always for your review, and I am elated that this amateur writer could actually write something that you liked reading -grins and bows-. In response to the boulder question, if you remember, Samos instructed her to wait by the levitation machine so she could watch from a safe distance. When she saw that her father and the rest of the villagers were going to be killed, she used the machine to make the boulder shoot forward. After that, it relied on a wonderful thing called momentum to wreak havoc on the Lurkers. And to think, if Klaww had never set such a gigantic boulder down there in the first place, it would have never been able to save the village. Also, I know you didn't ask, but you might be wondering why if Klaww was fifty-feet tall and could survive lava, why didn't he just go down to the village and destroy it himself. The answer is because while his body could shrug off the lava heat as if it was a bath, the cold of the water would have killed him. And yes, as always, the villains beat the good guys to the punch, as you effectively put it, because if they didn't, the game wouldn't be any fun. As to your idea, I had no idea who Tarath is, until I read the next chapter of your masterpiece. If I shouldn't know anything about him other than the fact that he lives in the Precursor Stone, don't tell me, because that would partially ruin the book for me (no matter how much it kills me, I'm a glutton for suspense). And as for using my characters, if you want, I'll email you a list of every important character in my book, both the ones that have passed and the ones still to come. I would be deeply honored and it would be my privilege to help out such a renowned writer such as you. And I came up with this idea after I reviewed, but I thought that the mist that Jak sends out. If you want, you could make his body become the mist, allowing him to move places such as through cracks and under doors. Maybe not now, probably after he has a better understanding of his powers, but let me know what you think.
animedragongirl- I am so happy to know that I didn't chase you away like I seemed to do to so many others wipes forehead in relief and then parties. I also am grateful for you helping out Red Mage 04 with his story- its people like you that make the world a better place, whereas people like me make other people need many years of intense psycho-therapy. I will take the comment about paragraphs to heart; usually I make them longer because I'm concerned they are too short. However, if you think I should make them shorter, I will do that from now on. I didn't notice that my work sounded like a broken record- thank you very much for pointing that out. I will take your advice and proofread each chapter more than once, so that way I can avoid repeating words and phrases. Thanks for that tip in Chapter Eleven about putting search instead of stare. I'm really sorry about that one sentence that has the end cut off. Usually I'm thinking while I type, and (slow thinker though I am), my fingers can't keep up with my brain. I'm trying to stop doing that, so please let me know if I do it again. I'm going to re-read my chapter at least twice to prevent mistakes like this in the future, but thank you for pointing them out now. I am an avid reader, I've been reading since as far back as I can remember, so that was the one and probably only bit of advice I didn't need. I am FAR from being a prodigy however, I'm more along the lines of WAY below novice. As for Legend of Zelda, I did play Wind Waker, but in my opinion the Ocarina of Time was much better. I asked my friend and he said to include a giant key instead of making it just a long thing with a start and finsih line. If you want me to change the set-up for a Temple, or have any ieas for booby traps for the temples, please let me know, since I am desperate for ideas. Thank you for taking the time out of your day to read this piece of c and, more importantly, review it.
EyesLikeSilk- Thank you for saying I have potential, I will try very hard to live up to that. Alas, structure is the one thing I never was very good at (my horrible English average will testify to that). Also, the reason why some of my paragraphs are so long is because either I'm paranoid and think they are short, or because I thought I had broken it and forgotten to. I think that's gotten much better, but I might be wrong so please let me know if it is. I try to do my best on pointing out who talks, but it's easier on me because I can see it all happening in my head. I keep forgetting that while I know everything about what's happening where, I have to be sure to tell you guys so you can keep up. I'm going to try extra-hard to make sure everyone knows who is talking. Unfortunately, I have absolutely no idea what Mary Sueish means, so if I haven't chased you off by the time you get to this, please tell me what that means. Most of those characters will in fact play a significant role before the end of the book, so rest assured I included them all for a reason. Also JAk never talks, per se. Whenever there are quotations coming from his it is him thinking, since I tried to give an insight into his point of view. I didn't like the fact that he was mute in the first game, only to have a voice-box surgically implanted him during the "Two Years Later" sign at the beginning of Jak II. The whole letting you see his thoughts thing is a way for people who haven't played any of the games to get a better understanding of his character.
Lazy Susan- Wow, my own cousin! Hey Alyx. :-P. Anyone, if she has written anything, (I didn't see anything) I urge you to read it. All my cousins can write circles around me. Hope to see you soon as well, hopefully for Thanksgiving.
Lauren- Hey Lauren. Wow, you finally read it hand you a cookie and then throws a party. I love parties. Uh yea, about the whole describing thing, I'm gonna try to do that now that I know you are reading it, and for anyone else who is reading this sad excuse for a story who didn't play the games. I'm gonna be hiring bodyguards in that case, because Jak and Keira aren't gonna kiss for a good long while. I did read this chapter over, so I think all the mistakes are gone. And yes, I made the paragraphs shorter. Well, most of them at least.
Disclaimer- If I owned Jak and co. two things. One, I wouldn't be writing fan fiction about it. And two, no matter how bad the sales would have been, this is how it would have been made. If that wasn't clear enough for you lawyers, I don't own them.
The Villains Unmasked
Jak and Daxter stepped back as Samos popped out of the Warp Gate. Keira had stayed back to lock up the Zoomer. Daxter laughed as the rather brilliant Sage landed somewhat unceremoniously on his skull. "Oh, I always wonder if I'm losing body parts in those things!" Samos groaned as he fell backward onto the floor. Jak chuckled as he helped Samos to his feet. The old sage peered around at the damage and destruction that the hut had sustained.
"Holy Yakow! The Red Sage's lab looks worse than the Blue's!" He exclaimed as he examined one of the burn marks.
"Well, it definitely looks as though there's been a struggle here." Keira commented as she entered the hut and looked around. All of a sudden, a horrid laugh filled and echoed throughout the room. Jak, Daxter, Samos and Keira all looked around to see where it was coming from. Hovering a foot or so above the Warp Gate, were the two people from Misty Island. Jak didn't need to see the man; he had caused him enough problems to know by now that he wore dark robes with a dark blue cape. Jak instead focused his attention to his female companion. She appeared to be about Keira's height, but that was the only thing the two had in common. Whereas Keira had peach skin and bright, kind eyes: this woman's skin was gray like her companions, and her eyes were yellow with black pupils. She had an orange helmet with two great green jewels embedded in it right above the eyes.
Her hair was long and graceful, about the only attractive quality that could be attested to her. She had leather gloves on, the back of the hand part covered in Precursor metal. She wasn't modest at all, Jak thought as he noticed that Keira's red no-sleeve shirt showed less skin than the armor this woman was wearing. Far from get a positive reaction from Jak; this indecent display of skin made him want to look away. Keira always to keep modest, but whatever skin she showed looked attractive, all peaches and cream colored. This mystery woman's pants started about an inch and a half below her belly button and went all the way down to her feet, which were uncovered. The pants were a combination of Yakow leather and Precursor armor. Both of the necromancers hovered around for a few seconds before landing on the bookcase and leering down at everyone. Finally, the male spoke.
"Ha ha ha ha ha! I'd hardly call it a "struggle", would you, dear sister?" He asked, rubbing his hands as he looked at the woman Jak had been surveying with extreme distaste moments before.
"Certainly not. The Red Sage gave up with so little effort. No fun at all..." She said as she pouted and picked at her fingernails.
Samos had been studying the man very closely. "...Gol! Is that you!" He said as he adjusted his glasses and intensely drank in their appearance. "You've finally gone off the deep end, eh? And Maya, I told you the Dark Eco would affect you both! Nobody ever listens to old Samos..." Samos groaned as he slapped his face. After sliding his hand down, he pointed an accusing finger at Gol. "What have you done with the Blue and Red Sages?" He demanded. Gol's face went from one of leering to of annoyance.
"Don't worry about your colorful friends, you old fool! They're perfectly safe at our Citadel... our special guests."
"They have graciously agreed to help us on a little... project." Maya added.
"You were wrong, Samos. Dark Eco CAN be controlled!" Gol exclaimed as he greedily rubbed his hands together. "We've learned its secrets. And now we can re-shape the world to our liking!" He proclaimed, spreading his arms and widening his eyes.
"You can't control Dark Eco by itself!" Samos said as he shook his head. He was no longer totally sure, since after all Daxter and Keira had told him, he was no longer positive that Dark Eco was uncontrollable. He had seen it be Channeled before, but he was not going to tell Gol that. Mistaking Gol's raised eyebrow for a glimmer of doubt instead of annoyance, he continued trying to reason with the demented Sages. "Even the Precursors --"
"Until now, we've had to scrape by with what little Dark Eco can be found near the surface." Maya interrupted, narrowing her eyes at Samos as though she would love nothing more than kill him there and then. "But soon, we will have access to the vast stores of Dark Eco hidden deep underground." She continued, smirking as Samos' eyes widened in fear.
"Not the silos!" He whispered.
"Yes, the silos! They WILL be opened! And all the Dark Eco of the world will be OURS!" Gol proclaimed, grinning insanely. Samos knew then that all reason and logic had deserted his colleague and former friend.
"But that's impossible!" Samos said, trying to reassure himself as he once again attempted to dissuade the two of them. "Only a Precursor Robot --"
"Oh, don't look so upset, Samos." Maya said as she rolled her eyes and waved her hand at him. "We've got BIG plans for you..." She trailed off ominously as she pointed a gray finger with a long black fingernail at him. Gol and Maya then vanished in a puff of dark purple smoke, only their trails of laughter remaining. Jak Keira and Samos exchanged significantly dark looks, while it appeared Daxter had been putting his extraordinary brainpower to work on all that had transpired.
"Wait a minute! THAT was Gol?" He cried as he pointed to where they had previously stood. "The same Gol who's supposed to turn me back?" He exclaimed, pointing this time at Samos. "GOL is the guy trying to kill us!" He shouted, waving his arms around before jumping up on Jak's chest and grabbing his shoulders. Trying to shake Jak, (and failing miserably) he bawled as he slid down Jak's chest and landed on the floor on his feet. "I'm doomed." He moaned as he put his ears back and hunched forward, his eyes staring dejectedly at the floor.
"We may ALL be doomed! If they open the silos, the Dark Eco will twist and destroy everything it touches! We simply MUST-" Samos said, banging his staff on the floor- "get to their Citadel to stop them! The fastest way there is through the Spider Caves at the bottom of this crater."
Daxter held up his hand. "Great. Sounds like a real cheery place." He said as he made a fluttering motion with his hands. "Oh, please, don't tell me. Let me guess... there are SPIDERS in Spider Caves, right?" He asked, pointing at Samos. Samos gave Daxter a look that plainly called him an idiot.
"Of course there are spiders in Spider Caves! But that's the least of your problems! The last time I was there with Gol, there were lakes of concentrated Dark Eco! You've got to find a way to plug up those lakes before those monsters get their hands on them! Hop to it!" Samos barked. Jak nodded and turned around to head out the door. He paused when he heard Keira protest.
"But Dad, these notes say that Santar figured out where the key to the Green Eco Temple is. He says that it's on Snowy Mountain Island. Don't you think that we should go there first?" Keira interjected. Seeing her father not entirely convinced, she added, "Alecis lives there doesn't he?"
"Who?" Daxter asked. Jak thanked him mentally, although the name did sound vaguely familiar.
"Alecis," at this point Samos decided to continue the conversation, "is on the Sages Council. He is not exactly a Sage per se, because he is not a Channeler. Rather, he is a renowned expert on Precursor technology. I don't know if Gol has approached him yet, for he would undeniably be a great asset to Gol trying to rebuild a Precursor Robot. All right. We shall go to Snowy Mountain Island."
Daxter decided to point something fairly obvious out at this point, since no one else had seen fit to address the issue. "That's great. Now, I don't mean to be a stick in the mud, but uh, oh how do I put this? Ah. HOW IN THE NAME OF THE PRECURSORS DO WE CROSS THE OCEAN? Finding a one-way ticket to the inside of a Lurker Shark's stomach ain't exactly my idea of a vacation." Three stares met this outburst, but instead of ones that were of disbelief or that clearly told him to shut up, they were ones of astonishment; Daxter had noticed something that Jak, Keira, and even Samos, had failed to notice. They all thought a moment before Daxter piped up again. "We could take the Zoomer," he suggested half-heartedly.
"I don't think the engine I installed on it would be powerful enough to get us twenty miles." Keira mumbled. "Could Jak fly us?" Jak shook his head; he didn't know if he would be able to fly that far, and testing it out over an ocean filled to the brim with Lurker Sharks was not the ideal way of finding out in his opinion.
"I don't think we'll be able to get out there, and that means we won't be able to get into the Green Eco Temple. And that means we won't unlock new secrets of Green Eco." Samos grumbled. Everyone looked at the floor, looking up a stamp of Jak's foot. They stared at him as he jumped up and down and, inexplicably, beamed. Jak pointed to the map, then to Keira.
"We can't use the Zoomer Jak. It doesn't have enough power." Jak shook his head as he grinned. Keira raised an eyebrow as he dragged her outside the hut and around the back. Jak turned away from her and took off his backpack. He took two bags out: one that Keira knew contained Power Cells, and one that she didn't know about. Jak took the bag that contained Power Cells and emptied the contents into Keira's hands.
"You want me to use these to power the engine?" Jak smiled and nodded. Keira shook her head sadly as she poured them back in the bag. "I can't. This engine doesn't run off of Power Cells, only the heat shield does. I'd have to build a whole new engine, and for that, I'd need my tools. Not to mention a whole bunch of metal." Jak grinned as he placed the second bag in Keira's hands. He carefully put his hand inside and drew out a razor-sharp throwing star. A metal razor-sharp throwing star. Keira's jaw dropped as she peered inside the bag and saw about a hundred more in there.
"Where..." she croaked out. "Where did you get all of this metal Jak?" Jak grinned and pointed at the sky. "The dirigible?" He nodded. Keira flung her arms around him as he crushed her body against his, molding the two of them together. Jak nervously bit his lip as he moved closer to Keira's face.
"Hey guys, I hate to be nosy, but what's goin' on out here?" Daxter asked as he stuck his head out the window.
"Way to be a mood-kill, Daxter," Jak thought unhappily as he released Keira. Keira saw the swift annoyed look on his face and the disappointment etched into his features before he pointed at her, clearly asking her to explain.
"Well, apparently when Jak was on the dirigible, he found a bunch of metal throwing stars. If we go back to the garage in Sandover, then I can melt them down and build a new engine that I can modify to run off of Power Cells."
"Well then, what are we waitin' for? I can't wait to go back home." Daxter excitedly chattered as he scampered through the Red Sage's hut and through the Warp Gate. Jak, Samos and Keira quickly followed; they were all suffering from homesickness. Jak rolled out of the Warp Gate into the familiarity of Samos' house. He heard Daxter's muffled screaming and looked around. As he located Daxter, Jak got tears of laughter in his eyes: Daxter had flown out of the Warp Gate so fast that he had landed in the pot containing Samos' Petra FlyTrap. Thinking he was food, the plant had picked Daxter up with a tendril and stuffed him into its mouth. JAk couldn't resist laughing as he saw the lower half of Daxter's body sticking out of it's mouth, his legs and tail wriggling furiously. Keira ands Samos quickly popped out of the Warp Gate right behind Jak, Keira landing on her feet, while Samos landed this time flat on his back. As Keira helped her father up, they looked over at Daxter's screaming pleas of, "Get me outta' here!" to see Jak trying to pull Daxter out. Eventually, Jak squeezed the neck of the plant, knowing that while it hurt, it would reflexively make the plant spit his best friend out. Daxter landed on the floor covered in a strange green ooze. As Samos opened his mouth, Daxter spoke.
"Don't say it. Don't even chuckle," Daxter said as he stuck his hand in the air while laying flat on his back. He stood up and went outside, muttering dark threats to the plant under his breath. Still chuckling, Jak went home, looking forward to seeing his uncle. To his dismay, the house was as lonely and deserted as it had been two weeks ago, when he had battled Gol's apprentice for the first time. Jak sighed in loneliness: his uncle was usually gone more than half of the year. Whenever Jak went to bed, he always stared at the ceiling for a while, wishing he had someone to sleep with. That was the reason he had allowed Daxter to sleep in his room after he had become an Ottsel. That and the fact Daxter was an orphan. Jak felt a great swell of pity for Daxter rise in his chest. He had never known his parents, but at least he had an uncle. Daxter lived with a foster home, and Jak was under the impression that they couldn't really care less about their adopted son. Now that he sat and thought about it, Jak hadn't heard anything about Daxter's "parents" since they had gotten back from Misty Island. Jak felt a knot of anger replace the swell of pity as he thought of Daxter's home.
The father was a drunk who didn't work. From the way she acted, Jak highly doubted the mother cared about Daxter at all. Daxter coped with it as best he could, but was usually miserable. Jak was a bit happy that Daxter had managed to make good friends. Jak remembered one time he had followed Daxter to the edge of the village after saying goodbye because he was curious about why Daxter had never invited him over his house. Jak closed his eyes, trying to recall. It had been three months before they went to Misty Island...
"Okay, see ya tomorrow Jak," Daxter called. Jak smiled and nodded. As Daxter turned around and walked away, Jak snuck after him to an old shack on the edge of the beach. Jak was surprised Daxter lived there; the house was so weather-beaten and old that he had assumed it was a garage or some kind of storage facility. JAk snuck up to the window and looked in. He saw Daxter tiptoe across the room, sneaking towards the kitchen. His foot landed on a loose floorboard and made a squeak. Jak would never forget the look of terror on Daxter's face as his eyes looked down and then flew to the door across the room. The door burst open and a large man staggered in.
"You worthless pile of crap! Can't you even keep quiet!" The man bellowed. Daxter's eyes widened in fear as his adoptive father marched across the room, a bottle in one hand and smelling of liquor.
"I-I'm s-s-sorry, I w-won't m-m-make any more noise." Daxter mumbled, hunching over and looking at the floor. Far from placating his dad, this seemed to infuriate him even more.
"Oh, don't you talk back to me boy!" He shouted as he raised his fist. Jak looked away and closed his eyes, but there was no drowning out the dull thud and the yelp of pain.
"I told you to be quiet you stupid boy!" The man roared. Jak eyes blazed with anger as he stood up and kicked the door down. The man paused and looked towards the door. His eyes nearly popped out of his skull at the sight of Jak.
"YOU!" He screeched. "You filthy freak. I'll kill you!" As the man swung the bottle, Jak ducked and pulled his fist back. He sent it forward right into the side of the man, sending his fist deep into the man's side. Jak felt with satisfaction an organ meet his knuckle. He remembered how the Warrior from Rock Village had taught him this move- a "kidney-punch." The man gasped for breath and dropped the bottle. Jak caught it and slammed it against the back of the man's skull. As the giant fell with an slam. Jak looked down with disgust at the man who had undoubtedly been the cause of all the unexplainable bruises Daxter had been recently carrying. Jak dragged Daxter outside and marched him back to the village. Once there, he whirled around and looked at Daxter furiously, asking without words why Daxter had never told him anything. Daxter sighed and couldn't meet Jak's eyes, opting instead to stare at the ground.
"I didn't want to bother you with this Jak." Jak's hurt look told Daxter that he would have wanted to be bothered by this. He grabbed Daxter's chin and forced Daxter to look at him. Jak pointed at Daxter's bleeding mouth and then at his own ears. Daxter heaved a huge sigh before sitting in the sand. "All right. I'll tell you everything. I'm an orphan. My mom died giving birth, and my dad had already been killed by a Lurker six months before that. I grew up in an orphanage until I was nine. Then the orphanage said I needed to be adopted, because there wasn't enough room for me and I was the oldest one there. Those two," here he paused and pointed at the shack, "said they'd be happy to take me in. They were actually good people. They never had much money, but the three of us were happy together. Everything was fine until a year ago. My... father," he spat the word out, "started drinking, because he found out the woman he married couldn't bear children.. About a month after that, my mom started hating me. I don't know why. Maybe it's because I wasn't her real son, and that's what she really wanted. A couple of weeks that after he started hitting me. My mom just stood there and let it all happen. Sometimes she would yell at me for crying too loud. That's why I never wanted to go back. But I don't want to bother you guys, so I never asked if I could stay with you."
Daxter sighed again, this time from relief. It had felt horrible reliving the torment that had been his life for a year. But now that he was finished, he felt much better, like he had just had a poison extracted from his body and mind. He looked up and saw Jak's horrified face. Jak just stood there for a minute before kneeling next to his friend and hugging him. Daxter looked relieved that Jak was not going to tease him. Jak pulled Daxter up and dragged him to Tweetledov Perch's home. Jak pushed Daxter through the doorway, and knocked on the bedroom door. The kind lady emerged. She was about three and a half feet tall and had brown hair. She wore reading glasses, a green shirt down to her knees, and a dark green pants. In her room, Jak could see a hat that looked like the head of a Flut-Flut.
"Yes, could I help you two?" she asked, smiling sweetly. Jak nudged Daxter , who took a deep breath and repeated the entire story to her. At the end, Tweetledov was wearing a similar expression to Jak's: a mixture of horror and pity. "Well Daxter, you are welcome to stay with me as long as you like. I insist on it; I never knew those people who lived on the beach could be so cruel as to want to hurt someone like you." Jak privately felt that once in a while, maybe once a month or so, Daxter did something that actually deserved a good smack, but not by his own parents. He smirked slightly as he remembered the slap Daxter had gotten for 'tripping' and landing on top of Kristen's chest. He shook his head back to reality just in time to see Daxter thanking Tweetledov for her hospitality. Jak smiled as he was reassured that Daxter's adoptive family would no longer be able to hurt him.
Jak vaguely wondered what Daxter's parents were doing now and how they were holding up without Daxter there. He sighed as his mind turned to the problem at hand. Gol Akaron, the Sage of Dark Eco, had become corrupted by the very thing he had sought to understand and control. He was now trying with increasing frenzy to kill Jak. He was also attempting to rebuild a Precursor Robot to reopen the Precursor Dark Eco Silos and flood the world with Dark Eco. He had also captured two (as far as they knew) members of the Sages Council and was planning to use them for something Jak disbelieved he would like very much . Jak sat up; he had to do something or else he would go crazy. Jak stood up and walked out of his room, only to walk back in. He looked at his dresser and saw a small piece of paper with his uncle's handwriting.
"Jak, my boy. I know you are going on a journey to the north, while mine will lead me to the tropics down south. I have been all the way to the north before and I have mapped the area out for you. I hope this comes in handy on your quest." Jak read this note quickly before eagerly unfolding the paper and looking at the map. It was magnificently done; handwritten, it was a general map of the entire area. Even better, certain parts of the map could be flipped up, revealing a much more detailed version below. His smile vanished as his eyes found Volcanic Crater. It seemed to only be the halfway point between Sandover and Gol's Citadel.
"Well, that just means we'll have to work that much faster," Jak thought as he rolled the map up and stowed it away in his backpack. He looked outside and saw it was still relatively early, so he decided to go visit Keira to see if he could help her. Time was now too valuable to waste if they were only halfway along the path of stopping Gol from achieving his heart's desire. As Jak walked back to Keira's, many people in the village called or waved to him. Before entering Keira's garage, Jak turned around to stare at his hometown. Even after traveling halfway over the land to the north, he loved this village more than any other. He walked in and a spasm of horror snaked its way up his spine. His beloved A-Grav Zoomer was lying in pieces on the floor. Jak looked at it in revulsion; the outer shell had been removed, along with the engine, the heat shield, and the Blaster Ammo Container. Only the Container was on the floor next to the outer shell: the engine and heat shield were nowhere to be seen. Jak looked in the next room and saw Keira sitting at her desk, studying both objects, writing frantically, and checking things over in her books. Jak cleared his throat and Keira looked up to see who had come into the house. Her tired expression brightened considerably when she saw who it was.
"Oh hey Jak. I'm taking apart the engine to see what pieces prevent it from running on Power Cells. And I'm taking the heat shield that is powered by Power Cells apart to see what pieces allow that to happen. Then I'm going to try to duplicate the pieces and transfer them to the engine so it will make the Zoomer more powerful and efficient all around. Um... would you like to help?" Jak nodded his head enthusiastically and pulled up a chair. As he sat down next to her, he took another deep breath and was rewarded with her sweet smell. As Keira took each part of the engine and heat shield, Jak wrote down the name of the piece and the function of it. After making a checklist of the parts that they would require to make an engine that was fueled on Power Cells, Keira looked up and out the window. She was stunned to see the sun setting off in the west; the time had flown so quickly it had felt like just a minute to her.
"Wow we've been working a lot longer than I thought! Do you want something to eat?" Jak nodded as his mouth began watering at the thought of steaks ran through his mind. He would have to settle for a ham and croca-dog sandwich, along with a glass of ice-cold Yakow milk. Half an hour later, Jak and Keira went outside to lay down on the grass in front of the hut. They had fun pointing out the different constellations and Keira pointed out where a star had been. It had been very bright, and Jak was sad to think it had gone out. He got up and gave Keira a brief hug before heading to his house.
"Hey Jak!" Jak turned around to look at Keira curiously and thought she might be getting sick; she looked rather feverish. "D'you... d'you wanna stay here tonight instead?" Keira inquired very quickly. "You can stay in here and I would be in the next room. Dad would be upstairs in case you needed anything. I just thought that you might want some company, with your uncle being gone and all." Jak politely shook his head no. He saw the hopeful light in her face go out like a lamp and felt a little guilty. He put his hand gently on her shoulder and she looked up at him to see him smiling faintly as he embraced her.
"Sorry. I didn't mean to make you feel uncomfortable. I should have known that it was a bad idea to ask you." Keira whispered into his ear, eliciting a shiver from him. Jak could not help, on his part, the shiver that went down his spine as he felt Keira's breath on his ear. He also felt a peculiar leaping feeling somewhere around his midriff. He quickly let go of Keira as he turned to go. "Uh, Jak?" He turned around, then looked at her, who scratched the back of her head and stared very hard at Jak's feet. "Why don't you want to stay here tonight?" Jak smiled wryly and pointed to his shoulder, then made a talking motion with his hands. Then he rolled his eyes back and opened and closed his mouth rapidly. Keira giggled at his humorous but accurate description of Daxter. He was right: if Jak spent the night, the entire town would know before the sun came up.
"All right, I'll see you tomorrow Jak!" Keira called as he walked away. Jak waved and continued on his way home. When he got to his room, he saw that Daxter was already sleeping on his pillow. Jak smiled softly and lightly picked up the entire pillow up. He moved it slowly to the side so as not to wake his best friend and he would have room to lay his head. Jak laid down and closed his eyes. That night, he dreamt of Keira, the thought of her forbidding any impure nightmares to enter his subconscious. Eight hours later, Jak woke up suddenly from a very funny dream involving Daxter and him riding a bucking Yakow and landing in a pool of Jell-O. They had been bouncing up and down when Jak became aware that sunlight was streaming through the window. He felt so warm, so very sleepy, that he wanted nothing more to return to sleep's wonderful embrace.
Someone shook his shoulder and he reluctantly opened his eyes to see Keira bending over him, a smile on her face. Jak was so shocked at seeing her in his room that he gave a start of surprise and fell of the bed. Keira giggled as she watched Jak try to free himself from the entanglement of his sheets. Jak's feet flailed around in the air in a desperate attempt to free his legs while his head was on the ground, the upper half of his body naked. Keira ripped the offending sheets off Jak's legs and helped him to his feet, and could not help taking in his body as she did so. For some reason, she was not at all embarrassed about seeing Jak with only his shorts on when she had blushed so much seeing him in nothing but underwear two weeks ago. Jak was also perfectly content allowing Keira to look at him this way, his shorts showed less skin than his bathing suit.
"Morning," she said in a sing-song voice. Jak smiled sleepily at her a he sat back on his bed and rubbed the crust out of his eyes. He looked over and saw Daxter on his back, a tiny trickle of drool coming out of his mouth. Jak shook his head in astonishment: how Daxter could sleep through the vibrations Keira had made while waking him up and the noise he had made as he fell was beyond his comprehension. "Uh Jak?" Something in Keira's would-be casual tone made Jak regard her warily; he had a feeling he would not like what she was about to tell him. Keira took a deep breath and continued quickly before she lost her nerve. "I need you and Daxter to go back to Misty Island." Jak groaned and Keira looked at him nervously. "You know I wouldn't ask you to go back there unless I really needed you to." Jak breathed deeply and nodded, she had a valid point. Daxter had told her a number of times how scary and dangerous that place was.
"Look, it has to do with the new engine I'm building. I realized last night that I didn't have a copy of the piece we need to transfer the energy from the Power Cells to the engine. Then I remembered you guys brought back Power Cells from Misty Island. Daxter told me that the Power Cells were the fuel for the cannons. That's when I thought we might be able to salvage some pieces of the remains of the cannon." Jak closed and thought that the wish that he had made three weeks ago: the one where he wished he never had to return to Misty Island, would not be granted. He stood up and groaned as he stretched his back muscles. He went over to his dresser and got a piece of paper and a pen. He scribbled something and handed the note to Keira.
"Couldn't you just build a copy instead?" Keira read this note before looking embarrassed.
"Well of course I could. But the thing is, it would take me a couple of weeks. That's why I'd really like to get the piece from Misty Island if we can." Jak looked at her with a little kid face. Keira stuck her bottom lip out and looked back at him with puppy-dog eyes. Jak smirked before he got a shirt out of his dresser and put it on. As he wound the leather through his chest ring, he wrote another message. Keira took it, and by the time she had finished reading it, her face was a little whiter than usual. "Why do I have to come with you?" Jak wrote down his response after he fastened his forearm and shoulder armor on.
"Because me and Daxter don't have any idea what this thing might look like, and since you're better with machines than us, you have to come along." Keira scanned this letter before begrudgingly admitting this was true. Jak woke Daxter up and pointed at Keira, telling her to let him know what was going on. As Jak sat down in the kitchen and poured himself a bowl of cereal, he heard Daxter's loud moans, a clear signal that Keira had informed him of the task at hand. After breakfast, the three of them went to the fisherman's boat and powered it up. They sat back and basked in the sun after putting the boat in the direction of Misty Island. As they arrived, Jak and Daxter got off the boat with a certain amount of confidence. Keira, on the other hand, was more nervous than she had ever been in her life. Jak saw the familiar cliff in front, but he wondered if there might not be an easier way around. Looking to the left he saw nothing but the odd gray sand that covered the beach area, but the way to the right yielded a path. Jak motioned for Keira to follow him as he cautiously made his way around the mountain and down the route that he had not noticed the last time he was here.
After about three minutes of walking in silence, Jak noticed a cut in the path that rose up about six feet. He carefully hoisted himself up and saw a five-foot tall, blue Lurker walking around. He immediately recognized it as a General by the tell-tale club, not to mention the bone armor and helmet it was wearing. Jak noticed with a mixture of interest and apprehension that the Generals seemed to have been given extra armor, since its fingers and feet were covered in bone as well. Jak picked a small pebble up and threw it behind the General, causing it to spin around. It never found the origin of the sound, due to the fact Jak had shot a pea-sized beam of Yellow Eco straight through its skull. As it slumped down, Jak jumped up onto the path and helped Keira up as well. Together, the three of them covered the body of the General with small rocks so it would not be immediately distinguishable. About ten feet away, a Scout met a similar fate. Jak wondered what to do with this body: there were no more rocks, and a four and a half foot tall purple ape wasn't exactly hard to miss if another patrolling Lurker happened to come by. Jak thought of an idea and dragged the body away. Keira followed him, kicking dirt over the blood so nothing would be able to see or smell it. JAk carried the body all the way back to the beach and flung it in the ocean. As he watched it sink, he thought with approval at how they had so far not alerted the island to their presence. After going back to the area where they had met up with the Scout, they came to a fork. One way led up and left, the other went into a cave. Jak decided to go in the cave, as it went into the mountain, which meant there was a better chance of finding the Dark Eco Pool, where the stairs that led to the cannon wreckage were.
As they entered the cave, the temperature dropped from slightly warm to fairly cold. A constant breeze blew, causing goose bumps to erupt on Jak's skin. He looked over at Keira and saw she was holding her arms and shivering. JAk stopped and looked around in his backpack for something he might be able to use to keep her warm. To his delight, he found a sweater that he had brought along in case they had entered territory that was cold. He handed it to Keira, who reluctantly took it.
"What about you Jak? Aren't you cold too?" Jak shrugged and turned his Red Eco Box on. He formed a very thin layer of energy around him, allowing the excess kinetic energy it provided to heat his body up. He looked at his readout and saw he had enough to last him twenty minutes. He would then have to turn the Box off in order to save some in case he should need to fight. They went deeper and deeper, noting with some uneasiness how torches had been placed at regular intervals. That practically screamed the presence of Lurkers, which made Keira a tad nervous. To encourage herself, she drew the bow and arrow that she had brought with her. They entered a huge cavern. Even with the light of the torches, they could not see the walls or ceiling. A faint glow was coming from the other side. Jak squinted and he thought it looked like sunlight, which meant there was a good chance the Dark Eco Pool was on the other side of the grotto. A strange stalagmite shot up out of the ground near a twenty-foot gap. Jak placed his hand on it and pushed gently. To his surprise, the entire thing leaned forward. JAk reached behind himself to find Keira's stomach. He pushed her gently away before Channeling more Red Eco into his hand. He punched as hard as he could and a huge crack appeared at the base of the protrusion. He turned his Red Eco Box off and pushed as hard as he could. The entire flange fell and formed a bridge. Jak allowed Keira to go first so if she fell, he would be able to catch her.
As they crossed, Jak looked down and saw that they were above a giant pool of Dark Eco. Making a mental note to avoid to going over the edge at all costs, Jak hurried Keira along. At the next section, there was another ledge a few feet forward and down. Jak let Keira go fist, ready to levitate her if she didn't make it. To his relief, that was not needed. He jumped down and followed her along a new path. As they saw another gap coming up, a much larger one than the one they had just cleared, they sped up. Jak gauged the distance and pulled Keira, knowing she couldn't jump fifteen feet. He hoisted her up on his back and turned his Red Eco Box on for strength. Three feet from the edge, the ground crumbled and the three of them began to fall to a pit of almost certain death. Jak thought quickly and he took out his Hookshot. Aiming wildly he fired and felt like shouting for joy when he was jerked upwards. As they landed in a heap of tangled limbs, they looked at the source of light, which was much closer. To his discontent, he saw the light was not given off by sunlight, as he had originally thought, but Power Cells. Jak picked up the three of them and stowed them safely in his backpack.
Jak turned around and the three adventurers started on the way back. Keira pointed out another path that led around the cavern, and Jak agreed to take it. He couldn't see any reason not to, everything was dangerous in this Legatee-hole. The path led uphill around the perimeter of the chamber, and Jak noticed it felt very unsteady. He wondered whether the entire thing might not collapse. Unfortunately, as soon as this thought crossed his mind, the ground beneath him started to sink. He saw Keira about fifteen feet ahead of him and stuck his fingers in his mouth and whistled to get her attention. Keira turned around and saw Jak running at her, the ground beneath him crumbling away and falling into the darkness below. Keira needed no more incentive to move faster and Jak soon caught up with her. As they reached the end, Jak grabbed Keira's hand and fired his Hookshot into the wall. As it dug in he stopped it from pulling them and instead lowered them all onto sturdy ground. They went back through the entire cave and wound up and the fork in the road again. Keira handed the sweater Jak had leant her back to him and Jak stored it safely in his backpack. All of them shared a collective sigh of despair as they turned to the right and started up a whole new path.
The three adventurers walked along the dirt path that had a shallow slant uphill for a while. Eventually they came to a tall white smooth mountain. "Strange. I've never seen rock like this before..." Keira muttered as she climbed. Jak privately agreed: the rock under his fingertips felt almost smooth, yet it had a myriad of tiny holes in it, giving it a porous look and feel to it. As they advanced towards the top, they heard what sounded like bone hitting a floor. Jak signaled Keira to stay back as he climbed over the edge. A snarl followed by a snap was all she heard before the limp body of a General was hurled off the summit and hit the dirt below. Jak's head popped out and he reached an arm down to help Keira up the rest of the way.
After they dusted themselves off, the three travelers came across a pretty big gap. Peering over the edge, Keira couldn't even see the bottom, which indubitably meant that it was either very deep, or there was a pool of Dark Eco at the bottom. Since both of these possibilities seemed equally uninviting, Keira took a running start and leapt across the chasm. Jak started and immediately hurled himself off the ledge to make sure she landed. While Keira had the extra momentum as a head start, JAk did not, and so he found himself hanging onto the edge. Keira helped him up and he clasped his hands together while batting his eyes. Keira giggled at how ridiculous he looked and then she led the way for a while.
After about ten minutes of walking the path began to take a steeper path upwards. Jak saw that it was made out of the same kind of rock as the small mountain before. He noticed that it was cylindrical and it seemed to be broken into sections. There were curves coming off the sides. These went up, and they ended in a sharp tip.
"By the Precursors..." Keira breathed. "Its, its bone." Jak and Daxter looked at her questioningly. "This rock isn't really rock. Its the backbone of something. I don't know what it could possibly be." Three of them shared nervous looks; all of them sincerely hoped that whatever had died here was the last of its kind. At the top of the path was a hole filled with Dark Eco. Jak picked Keira up and flew them all over the pool of death. He decided to just fly to the end of the path and get it over with. As he soared through the air with Keira in his arms, Jak contemplated kissing her while they were airborne but decided against it, considering the Ottsel with the biggest mouth in the world was sitting on his shoulder. As he landed, he saw that this time they had indeed chosen the right path. There lay the Dark Eco Pool that had started this whole crazy adventure. As they climbed the stairs, Jak hoped that they found the piece that they were searching for, otherwise this whole day would have been a waste of time. They reached the very top of the mountain and saw the debris of the cannons. JAk motioned for Keira to go find the piece they needed. As she shifted through the bits of wood and metal, Jak got a very uneasy feeling. He felt as though they were being watched, but there was no one in sight. He put his hands on his belt, just in case he needed to fight.
"Found it!" Keira exclaimed. Jak felt relieved: now they could get out of this place. Suddenly he felt rather than sensed something behind them. He spun around and ducked just in time. A blade of what looked like purple Yellow Eco went whizzing through the air where his head had been only an instant before. Jak looked at the source of it and felt a hatred that he didn't know he was possible of carrying erupt in him. Standing behind him was Gol Akaron himself, glaring at Jak as though he would love nothing better than to torture Jak to death.
"So, it appears that you three are still intent on stopping me? So be it. I was going to allow you to become my servants and live. But if you are so stubborn as to struggle against the beauty of darkness, then... YOU MUST DIE!" Gol bellowed these last words and suddenly an aura manifested itself around his body. Jak noticed it was an aura very much like the one that appeared whenever he was Channeling. Unfortunately, it was dark purple, and it looked much bigger than Jak's had ever been. Jak considered running, but knew that that would not assist him in the slightest. All that would happen would be that he would die without having a chance to protect those he held close to his heart. JAk formed an Eco Blade in his left hand, while Channeling Yellow Eco around his right. Gol looked mildly surprised.
"You think that just because you can form an Eco Blade means you will have an advantage. Fool." Gol summoned his own blade and adopted a fighting stance. The only difference was while Jak's blade was a deep golden, the demon's was a dark purple. Jak leapt at the dark Sage while swinging his sword. The two of them went back and forth between attacking and defending. Gol had to admit against his will that Jak had become much more powerful than the last time they had met. Jak clashed his sword against Gol's and struck out with his right fist. The punch did absolutely nothing against his opponent. Jak Channeled more Eco into his hand but it still did him no good. Jak noticed a faint purple shield around Gol's entire body. Gol laughed as he saw Jak had seen why he was so relaxed. "That technique is pitiful. Allow me to show you something a bit more advanced." Gol stretched his hand out and purple electricity flowed from it towards Jak. JAk leapt into the air, landing far enough away from Gol to ensure he would have plenty of time to dodge the lightning attack. Gol shot a ball of Dark Eco at him and Jak bent backwards to avoid being hit. The said orb exploded behind him and he feared for Keira's safety.
Almost as if he had read Jak's mind, Gol turned to face the frightened girl behind him. He smirked at Jak and shot another orb at her. Jak dashed forward to her, desperate to get to her before the bomb. Time seemed to slow down as he got closer. Pain the like of which he had never felt coursed through his body; every nerve was on fire, it felt like white-hot needles were poking him from every side. Jak lost the will to stand and his body crumpled. Gol stepped over his body and got closer to Keira.
"Ah well. It appears that your brave knight in shining armor won't be around to save you this time, my dear. Soon Dark Eco will rule the world, and you will be my queen. The two of us shall-" Gol was rather rudely cut off by a fist wrapping itself around his throat. Jak yanked Gol away from Keira and threw him. The protective green shield around his body dissipated as he called his Eco Blade. He leapt at Gol, who clutched his throat.
"How DARE you touch me. You filthy little Channeler!" he screamed as he launched another lightning attack at Jak. Jak leapt into the air and shot a beam of Eco at Gol. Gol smirked as he shot a thinner beam of Dark Eco. His beam sliced through Jak's and headed for the caster. JAk brought his arms up in defense, planning to deflect it. Although his forearm did not deflect the beam back at Gol, it did cancel the attack out. Jak and Gol clashed blades once more, Jak trying to outmuscle the old man. It was proving harder than he had originally surmised. Gol formed another blade and prepared to cut through Jak's body only to be thwarted by Daxter. The Ottsel had snuck up the pant leg of the demented Sage and hug dug his claws and teeth into the skin. Gol concentrated and Daxter emerged from the bottom of his pants, holding his burnt tongue. Gol spun around and the five arrows Keira had sent at him were burnt to ashes. He spun around again and pushed his blade against Jak's and pushed Jak to the ground. Jak looked up as Gol let loose another lightning attack. Jak didn't even think about what he was doing, he simply brought his sword up to defend himself. The lightning rebounded off the sword and back at Gol. Gol himself continued casting his attack, not being able to stop. He shrieked as the attack peeled his skin off and eventually he managed to wrench his hands away and stopped the assault. Jak darted forward and Gol let out a scream of pain as his right arm was hacked off right below his elbow. He let out a snarl before disappearing.
Jak sighed, but then his warriors' sense went off again. He looked around and saw swarms of Lurkers (mostly Scouts, Generals, and Apes). Jak summoned two Eco Blades and engaged them all. Keira watched for a second before drawing her bow and arrows. After about two minutes of endless killing, Keira realized it was no good: she was out of arrows and even Jak was beginning to get tired.
"Jak, we have to get out of here. They'll overwhelm us with sheer numbers if we don't." Jak nodded and started fighting his way towards her. He was grateful that while it took an enormous amount of energy to summon an Eco Blade, after that it cost him no power. What was even better was when he recalled his blade, the Eco he used returned to his Yellow Eco Box. After reuniting with Keira, he formed a giant ball of Yellow Eco. All of the Lurkers paused, not quite sure of what to make of this new power. JAk threw it up in the air, where it hovered about fifteen above the ground. He clapped his hands and about fifty thin beams shot out of the ball. They were very thin, but piercing, as shredding through the armor of the Generals testified. The beams were very small, and when they were finished, the ball still hovered, albeit it was smaller. Fifty more beams shot out, and this continued until the small sun was depleted. Jak grabbed Daxter and stored him safely in his back pack. As he turned his Blue Eco Box on he started running and picked Keira up bridal-style. Jak made sure Daxter was safely in his backpack before shooting straight up. He flew over to the boat and they hastily turned it on. As they left, they heard the Lurkers let out a bellow of fury. The three of them let out a collective sigh of relief as they went back to Sandover Village. They watched the stars as they got closer and closer. As they docked, Jak removed the Power Cell from the motor and gave it and the other forty-eight Power Cells to Keira.
"Well, at least I got this piece. By tomorrow, the new engine should be hooked up and ready to roll." Jak grinned and watched Keira as she walked away. He went back to his house and fixed three sandwiches; two for him one for Daxter. After dinner, Jak collapsed on the sofa, as he was too wiped out to get to his room. Daxter curled himself into a ball and slept on Jak's chest. Once again Jak enjoyed a peaceful night, pure thoughts of Keira protecting his mind. In the morning he went to Keira's house to find Samos waiting for him.
"JAk. I just want to say I'm very impressed. From what Keira told me last night, although you did not kill Gol, you did manage to survive a sparring session with him, and you even succeeded in damaging him." Jak grinned, it was very rare that he received praise from Samos. "Keira is asleep, she stayed up until dawn working on the Zoomer. She will teleport it to you in the Volcanic Crater, and from there, the three of you will drive it to Snowy Mountain Island." Jak nodded and went back to his house. He figured if Keira could sleep, so could he. At about noon, Keira woke up and went to see Lauren and Kristen. After about an hour, during which she relayed all of her adventures and told them of all the times she and Jak had almost kissed but hadn't yet, she ate at their house and went to find Jak. After waking him up, they went through the Warp Gate to the Red Sage's hut. Jak boarded the Zoomer and waited for Keira to climb on behind him. She did, and Jak bit his lip as her hands ran down his chest, almost crashing into the mountainside. He shook his head as her hands went around his waist and gripped tighter as he accelerated. The Zoomer shot over the top of the mountain and they flew for a good full minute before hitting the water. It seemed Keira had improved the stabilizers, as he barely felt a tiny bump when they hit the water. Jak saw a tiny dot in the distance and shot for it, assuming that this was his next destination.
Wow, I have reviewers. Five of them. dances and then throws a third party. Well, for once I was right. I was actually able to get this done faster by working on it during my free periods. I hope you enjoyed the chapter, as I needed to have Gol look "normal". If you have anything you want to say, say it by reviewing. I don't care what you guys say, but if anyone would like to give me any, I am in desperate need for Lurker species. Also, if you have managed to invent an Eco Power, by all means share it; there is a 99chance I will use it at some point. And if you have an idea for a trap or design for the Green and Red Eco Temples, by all means, share it.