animedragongirl- Thank you for the Happy Birthday, but like I said to Red Mage 04, your review was a much better present than anything else I could have gotten. You know what is weird; my sister's birthday is the same as your Muse's, September 28th. Weird huh? Thanks very much for the offer, but I don't really want to be included in your story. Not that it's a bad story or anything (its beyond hilarious) but the idea just doesn't appeal to me. Yes Benedict is very jealous, and that jealousy will have a major influence on the rest of the plot. I will take your design of the Green Eco Temple you gave me to heart, I did not think of that, but only geniuses like you guys can come up with these exceptionally good ideas. Well, I hate to contradict you, but you said it yourself; there were some errors in my chapter, so it wasn't perfect. Meaning I'll just have to try harder. Anyway, thank you for the review.
Lauren- That quote is from Darth Vader upon the Death Star in Return of the Jedi, in response to the captain saying, "We will double our efforts." Chucking someone under the chin means making a fist, sticking your pointer out and curling it. He then hooked the finger under her chin to make her look up at him instead of down at the floor. With the he and she, it usually refers to the last person who spoke, or who the entire paragraph is about. But I will insert names a bit more often to make it easier for you. I made it out so that everyone hated Wartstal, but he's a good guy. For now. Thanks for the birthday comment. I update whenever I can, but I try to do it on Sunday's, but since I did it on Thursday, it's gonna be screwed up for a while. Eco is an energy source. Green Eco is the energy of Life, Blue Eco is the energy of Motion, Yellow Eco increases a creature's Ki, and Red Eco gives a person enhanced kinetic energy. Dark Eco contains properties of all of these, but is highly toxic, not to mention dangerous, which is why very few people actual Channel it. Please don't poke me.
Disclaimer- I'm sure everyone knows this, but as renegade lawyers will sue me if I don't say it every chapter, I don't own this. If I did, I would not be writing fan fiction about it, I would have ruined the entire franchise by making this the first game. Anywho… ELEVEN DAYS 'TILL JAK X: COMBAT RACING! And with that out of my system, here is Chapter Eighteen.
New Powers and New Dangers Abound
"Wow…" Daxter breathed, for once at a lack of words. Jak shared his sentiments; the Temple was beautiful. He wished Samos had come with them so he could see this. Jak decided to take a few pictures with his goggles. He pulled them down over his eyes and flipped a switch that stored images, like he did in the Blue Eco Temple when the boulder was chasing him. He took two, and decided to save the other three for later.
The Temple was made of metal, like everything else the Precursors created. This one differed from the others in the fact that it was completely covered in plant life. The floor was covered in grass; the walls were decorated with vines of green, blue, yellow, purple, white and red colors forming elaborate designs. The ceiling was covered in plant life except for a circular hole in the dead center, which was bare. Other than that one spot, every foot apart were bulbs giving off enormous amounts of light. Even more impressive was the fact that the lights were different color, and they reflected off the vines, making the colors seem to shimmer and change hues. There were stairs that seemed to be made purely of plants and dirt leading in another direction, the sides covered in flowers. Jak walked slowly through the entrance hall, revolving on the spot, not wanting to tear his eyes away from the beauty of the room. So entranced by the beauty of the room was they, that neither Jak nor Daxter noticed the small plants emerge from the floor open buds. Razor-sharp teeth gleamed in the light as the plants lunged forward, aiming for Jak's flesh…
"By the Precursors." Samos whispered.
"What is it Samos?" Wartstal asked.
"I know why the Lurkers are in the Spider Caves"
"Why"
"The head of a Precursor Robot is buried in there. That must be what they are after"
"Should I go in there and try to stop them"
"No. News of your betrayal will have spread by now, and to go in would be suicide. Jak might be strong enough to survive the trials, but for safe measure, I think Benedict should go as well"
"Will he have a say in this?" Wartstal asked; he had noticed Samos had a tendency to tell people what to do regardless of whether or not they wanted to.
"Of course. Keira said he insisted on accompanying us anyway, so he might as well make himself useful"
The plants coming out of the ground lunged for Jak… and missed. Jak back-flipped and landed on the head of the plant's head. As blood leaked out, he noticed the sharp teeth in the bud part of the flower. "Jeez, Jak. How did you know that was gonna happen?" Daxter asked his friend. Jak smirked and bent down. He grabbed the head of the now dead plant and shook it. A faint rattling noise came from the head. "Ohhhhh." Jak smiled at his friend before leaping into the air. He smashed down on another plant before ripping it out of the ground and hurling it another one.
"Damn!" Daxter shouted. "Can't a guy relax and enjoy the scenery?" Jak noticed a patch of land that didn't seem to have any grass plots. As he walked over he saw a spider web and a light at the end of a long fall. Jak Channeled Red Eco intending to burn through the web, but all that he accomplished was making the webs glow slightly red. He formed an Eco Blade and sliced through the web, but the sword has no effect whatsoever other than making the web glow yellow this time.
Jak shrugged, figuring he would get back to the web later. If he was still alive that is. He walked over to the stairs and began climbing them. They led down a dark hallway. Jak gathered two balls of Yellow Eco, one in each hand, to light his way. This part of the Temple seemed to be earthy instead of full of flora. A small scuttling sound made Jak spin around. There was nothing that he could see, but he had the feeling he was being watched. He turned around and heard the scuttling sound. This time, he was certain he saw something dark fly up, but as he intensified his light to shine all the way up to the ceiling, there was still nothing there. Jak turned around and began walking again only to spin around and fire two blasts: one at the floor and one at the ceiling. Neither of the blasts hit anything, but when Jak resumed his hiking again he heard the sound louder than ever. He spun around and backpedaled, as he looked for the perpetrator. He saw nothing, sensed nothing, but the scuttling was driving him out of his mind. Jak spun around and broke into a full run as he tried desperately to out run the sounds behind him.
Jak saw a turn coming up and he flung his body into the corner, back first, so nothing could sneak up on him. Or so he thought. Eight thin, spindly legs shot out of the wall and grabbed him. He heard the scampering sounds, louder than ever before, from behind him. Jak stuck his hand behind his head and blindly fired a small beam of Yellow Eco. The legs groping him went slack and Jak spun around. On the floor was a spider. They remarkably like the Lurker Spiders except they had what looked like a flattened elf skull for a body. As the legs rolled up, the spider sank into the earth. Jak let out a whistle; that was the reason he couldn't see what was following him. Jak continued and came to a pond with a wooden square floating on the surface. Jak hopped on it and the platform started to ferry him across the lake. As Jak stared into the water, he saw Keira. Panicking, Jak stuck his hand under the water to try to save her from drowning. His hand passed through the image of Keira. Jak looked closer and it saw him his own memories and thoughts of Keira. Keira at the beach, working on the Zoomer, shooting Lurkers down with arrows, leaning over him as he lay injured. Daxter wondered why Jak staring at nothing so intently, but an image caught his attention. Daxter looked into the water and saw women playing volleyball. He leaned in, just like Jak. More images swam across his eyes, him in his normal form, slapping Gol until he cried like a baby, more girls laughing in the water, getting into a water fight with those girls. Once again, they were both so entranced by what they saw, they did not notice a tentacle slither toward Jak.
"What does he have that I don't?" Benedict grumbled to himself. He paced in his room back and forth, wondering why Keira liked Jak more than him. "Me and Jak are the same, I'm probably better. I'm a Channeler, just like Jak. Ok, maybe I'm not as tall, but I have a lot more muscle; I make Jak look like a child. Jak is a better Channeler, but so what, I killed just as many Spiders that day. Could it be the sparring match? Nah, she knows I'm at a disadvantage there. Maybe I should let Jak teach me some new moves, then I can beat him and impress Keira." Benedict kept conversing with himself as to why Keira liked Jak so much more than she liked him. "With the Precursors as my witnesses, I will make Keira mine." Benedict grumbled to his ceiling. With that comforting thought, he rolled off his bed and began doing push-ups.
The feeler grabbed Jak by the waist and pulled him under. Daxter looked around just in time to see his friend get yanked into the water. Jak struggled underneath the water and suddenly the tentacle that had a grip on him broke. Jak flew to the surface and burst out of the water. He yanked Daxter off the raft and flew to the other side of the room. He saw part of the lake rise out of the water and fly toward him. Jak leapt down a hole and looked up to see the water following him. Jak landed and the water oozed out of the hole. It collected on the floor until it formed into a giant blob. There was a reddish sphere in the center that swiveled whenever he made a move. Jak fired a ball of Yellow Eco into the water, but it simply rebounded. Jak caught it and formed it into a sword.
Jak ran in, slashing and stabbing furiously. Wherever he cut, the water seemed to "heal." Apparently, the water grew tired of this and simply grabbed Jak and stuffed him into it. Jak struggled for air as he slowly suffocated. He hammered away at the thin membrane that kept the water together. Although it was paper-thin, it was unbreakable. Trying to keep his wits, he hammered even harder using Red Eco. To his surprise, the blob writhed and spat him out. Jak gasped for air as he watched the blob writhe and shriek as it evaporated. Jak turned around when a trickling sound caught his ears. He turned around to see the water condensing and forming around the blob. Without even thinking about it, Jak ran up and sliced the globule right in half. The water lost its otherworldly glow and the splotch disappeared. Jak sighed and use his Green Eco Box to get rid of his fatigue. He entered the next room through a door that seemed to be made out of the same earthy substance that held the Temple together.
He door slammed shut behind him. Jak looked around and bars made of Precursor metal slammed down over the door, ensuring he would not be able to get out by brute force. "Well, looks like I ain't getting out that way," Jak thought to himself. He turned around and saw that there were two torches in the room. Jak shot a beam of Yellow Eco at it, but the Eco fizzled out. Jak shot another blast of Yellow Eco at it from a much closer distance, but again it sputtered out. Jak then Channeled Red Eco into his hand and put it into the torch, thinking the heat from his hand might make it burst into flame. Jak thought of how to light this torch, he needed to find out how to burn something without using Red or Yellow Eco. There seemed to be a thin line of moss covering the interior of the basin. Jak wracked his brains to think of something, and remembered a scene from his childhood.
"Look at this Jak. This is a very rare moss. It will not combust unless-"
"Wow. Mold. You know, greenie, if I wanted to see that I would just take off the logs you wear on your feet." Daxter said as he popped his head in through the window. Jak smiled at this, but winced as Daxter's head was sent flying through the window thanks to Samos.
"Now. As I was saying. This moss will not burn unless Channeled with Green Eco"
"Could this be the same moss?" Jak wondered. He decided to find out. He gathered a small ball of Green Eco into his palm and dropped it into the torch. Instantly the moss covering the sink burst into yellow flames, illuminating the room. A Launch Pad was on the ground, and looking up, Jak saw a web. He stepped on the Pad and launched up. He hit the web, which stretched upwards. He was sent crashing back to the ground. As he rubbed his head, Jak once again leaped up. He was just as unsuccessful as previously, except this time he landed on another area of his body. Jak stood up, rubbing his backside. He Channeled Blue Eco once more. As he flew towards the web, he activated his Yellow Eco Box. He blasted everything he had downwards and the extra velocity it provided him sent him through the web and into the very first room of the Temple. He continued through the air, but began to slow down. Looking down, he saw the web regenerating itself. Knowing he couldn't relive the terrors he had faced already, Jak flew through the air with his Blue Eco powers. The hole on the ceiling opened for him as he went flying past it.
The hole resealed itself as Jak landed in another room. He stood up and looked around. There was a small bush in front of him. A small creature popped its head out and spit a large walnut at him. Jak caught the walnut. It immediately glowed red and exploded in his hand. Jak went flying backwards. More spouts popped up and fired a barrage of bullets at him. Jak leapt into the air, twisting his body to avoid the nuts. Jak landed and began deflecting the bullets with his forearm armor. As one nailed him on the side, he crumpled. More began to slip through his defenses until his body was being pounded on from every angle. Through the pain, Jak struggled to find a way to win. Images of what would happen if he lost ran rampant through his head. Gol would open the Silos, the Sages would perish, Benedict would be killed, Daxter would be killed next, and Keira would be alone. That last thought was unbearable.
Jak stood up, healing himself as he erected a barrier of Green Eco. The shield bent in under the pressure from the explosions. Jak summoned every last bit of resolution he had and forced the shield to expand. Eventually, the shield reached the plants, where their bombs exploded too close to themselves and blew them up. Jak stood up and winced at the devastation he had caused. He was only here for two reasons; keeping secrets from Gol and gaining more power. He thought about his quest for power. For what purpose. After thinking about it for a minute before reaching the conclusion that the only reason he wanted more power was to protect those dear to him. Samos, Daxter, Bryan, Mike, Lauren, Kristen, Benedict… and Keira.
Jak entered the next room and heard scuttling sounds again. He was a mite uneasy this time, he was now out of everything except Blue Eco. Jak heard a muffled thump from behind him and saw an odd creature. It had three legs and was covered in dark purple armor. It had a single yellow eye along with black claws. Fortunately it only came up to his knee. As it scuttled towards Jak, he levitated it. He brought it close to his face to get a look at it and the thing, whatever it was, sprouted a scorpion's tail that stuck him right in the forehead. Jak winced in surprise and pain as he felt the stinger penetrate his skin. He threw the creature against the wall so that it shattered as he rubbed his forehead.
More sounds came from behind him. Jak turned around and saw a quartet of creatures approaching him, hissing as their tails extended. Jak backed away; waiting for the right time. As one lunged, he grabbed it with telekinesis and impaled two others with its stingers. The last one got him, digging its stinger deep into his left lag. Jak hissed in pain and sent his foot through the thing's skull.
As the blood leaked from the shattered cranium, lights burst from all over. Jak assumed a combat stance, only to relax. The room was now illuminated fully and Jak saw a spring rise up from the ground. Jak bent down to drink and as the cool liquid slid down his throat, he felt all his injuries and weaknesses fade away.
The next room was a beautiful meadow. Jak kept his mind on his goal this time so as not to be distracted and attacked unexpectedly, as had happened twice already. He saw three wolves running at him. As they got closer, they rose up on their hind legs and approached him in an elfish-like walk. They stopped and surrounded him as Jak ran towards them. The one to his left charged and Jak ducked under its blow. He bent backwards and hit it under the chin with his foot as he did a back flip. He wasn't finished with it, because he gripped it around the neck with his legs and as he landed, threw it at the one on the right. The one behind him leapt at him, hoping to take him unawares. Jak would not be caught so easily, and he kicked the wolf right in the throat, ending the confrontation then and there. The third one threw its dead companion off and slashed at Jak, who easily blocked it. Again and again it stuck and swiped at Jak, trying to cut him up, but it was continuously blocked and parried. Jak leaned back and threw a punch dead on with the wolf's forehead. A nasty crunching sound was heard as Jak pivoted his hips to get the full extension off his attack. The wolf dropped down to the floor with a crack in it's head.
Jak continued through the meadow, amazed at the beauty, and yet keeping his mind on the matter at hand. As he approached another door, three plants lunged out of the grass. Jak stepped back out of their range and grabbed one by the neck. He yanked it out of the ground, killing it instantly. Its body went from being limp to hard as a pole of Precursor metal. Jak swung it experimentally a few times before winding up and letting the other two have it. Jak kept the pole; it might come in handy later. As he entered the next room, he saw a shadow on the floor grow larger. Suddenly, a giant hand fell of the ceiling and grabbed him around the throat. Jak struggled with it before biting the thing. It let go of him and landed so that it could walk around on its fingers. As it lunged at him, Jak smacked it with the pole so hard that it went flying through the air, into a wall, and cracked said wall. Jak looked at his weapon and saw that he had snapped it clean in two. He shrugged and dropped it on the ground, as it saw no longer of any use to him.
Jak continued into the room, which eventually narrowed into a hallway. As he entered the next room, he saw a zombie similar to the one in the Yellow Eco Temple. Unlike the chivalrous one like before, this one simply roared and drew a sword. Jak ducked and used two fists to blast a hole through the zombie's chest. As it went reeling back, it raised its arm and Jak saw dozens of small creatures approaching him. All of them looked like the ones he had beaten before. They hissed and unsheathed their stingers. As one lunged, Jak caught it and smashed it. To his surprise Yellow Eco leaked out. Jak grabbed it and smirked. He leapt back to get some distance and flattened the Yellow Eco sphere into a disk. He then expanded it until the center was no more and he was left with a hollow discus. He then split the discus in two and held the edges between his fingers. He threw them and the disks wreaked havoc on the small creatures. They were split and sliced up, Eco poring out of them. In a matter of minutes, Jak was wielding two Eco Blades with full Eco Boxes. He turned around to face the zombie and engaged it. For some reason, it was much more powerful than it was before. Jak pushed with all his might, but he was not able to outmuscle the collection of bones.
Three more creatures tried to sneak up on Jak while he engaged the Un-Dead once more. Tried being the operative word. As Jak killed the three of them, he felt the zombie get even more powerful. Jak's eyes widened as he realized that all the death he was creating was somehow making the monster stronger. Jak flew up into the air and threw his Eco Blades at the zombie. To his amazement, they were absorbed into the sword. As he landed, the Un-Dead swung with sword and five trails of Yellow Eco traveled along the ground and slammed into Jak. As Jak healed himself, he saw the monster cowering away from the Green Eco he was using. Jak was struck by an insane idea, but then again, he had nothing else to work with. He gathered all the Green Eco he had into a ball and ran at the zombie. The zombie backed away from the Green Eco in Jak's hand. Jak slammed the ball into the zombie's chest and watched as it grew alive. It was a rather odd scene, Jak thought, as he watched something die in reverse. When the elf was fully alive, Jak stabbed through the chest as it raised its sword at him. As it slumped to the ground, Jak saw it die for good. The body disintegrated into dust as the floor gave way.
Jak fell and landed rather unceremoniously on his buttocks. As he got up, the ceiling, or floor from before, resealed, leaving the room pitch-block.
Jak looked around and saw a reddish glow off to his right. As he approached it, Jak suddenly got the feeling that there was something in here that he shouldn't be with. Jak summoned an Eco Blade with one hand and a ball in his other hand. He leapt back from the red ball: it was actually a giant eye. As Jak made the ball of Eco bigger, the rest of his next opponent was revealed.
The monster was a much larger and uglier version of the creatures Jak had been fighting for some time now. The chest was six feet across, with no neck; rather, the eye was about four inches above the chest. Two small scorpion claws protruded from where the shoulder would be, and its left arm had three talons, the other had a hand like a scorpion's claw. A long and lethal looking tail obtruded from the back. After five feet, it branched off into three tails, each two feet from the cut. Under its armpits was a turquoise crystal that stuck out about three inches. The body's size quickly diminished after the chest, after two feet, it was no wider than Jak. That part looked like the only vulnerable part, as it was not covered in armor and was flesh colored. The lower part of the body was snakelike, long and scaly. The end of the bottom half ended in another bluish-green gemstone. It reared up and Jak noticed it was roughly twice as tall as he was. The eye rolled back and turned yellow. As it slithered back away from the light, Jak gathered his remaining Eco into a ball and hurled it up to the ceiling so it could illuminate the room. The last thing Jak needed was to fight an opponent that could see him and he could not see.
Jak watched as it crawled up the wall and dangled from the ceiling. Jak leaped into the air to fight it and got smacked back so hard by the scorpion's claw he swore he could hear his ribs crack. As Jak got painfully to his feet, realized that he was out of Green Eco. Jak panicked as he saw his opponent rush at him, much faster than its size would indicate. Jak jumped over it and recalled his Eco Blade. As the monster turned around, Jak socked it right in the eye. As it let out a scream of pain, Jak kicked it in the fleshy, unarmored part of the lower belly. It went flying back and opened the scorpion claw. A bright green liquid gushed out and Jak dodged to the left. Some of the liquid landed on his clothing and it ate right through the cloth. Jak leapt to the side as another acid spurt came his way. The beast came rushing in and Jak stabbed it in the chest with his Eco Blade. To his surprise, he accomplished little more then to piss it off and get picked up by the shoulders by the two pincers.
Jak gritted his teeth as the tongs gripped him by his arms and pulled. He tried to kick the thing in the eye, but a rock hard lid closed over it before his blow landed. Suddenly a loud voice got his attention.
"Hey you freak! Why don't you stop picking on Jak and come and tangle with a real animal?" Jak looked to his right just in time to see Daxter throw a rock at the insect-like creature. As his enemy glanced to Daxter, Jak planted both his feet into it's eye. Hard. As the grip on his hand slackened Jak grabbed the forceps and back-flipped, effectively slamming it into the ground. It rolled with him and threw him into a wall as it recovered from the attack. Jak got up off the ground and got presented with a gift; a three inch long slash mark along his face. As he started to lose his temper, Jak's body's defense mechanisms began to activate. He gained strength and speed from the rush of adrenaline and his brain began to naturally block out pain signals.
Using most of his Red Eco in a single technique, Jak ran at the creature and threw a flying sidekick to the chest. Jak heard a cracking sound, but whether it was the monster's chest plating or his foot he wasn't sure. As he look up, he saw the monster's eye roll back so it was red again. A red beam shot out and he rolled to the side. As he looked at where it had impacted, he saw steam rising from the ground.
Jak vaulted up into the air as another beam was sent his way. Another beam caught him in the chest as he rushed in from the wall and he went flying backwards. As he impacted the wall, with which he was becoming fast friends, he saw another beam get fired at him. This one he successfully rebounded and it socked the creature in the chest. Jak ran at it and landed another flying sidekick with his right foot. As he felt the chest give way, Jak finished spinning counter-clockwise and delivered a jumping spinning back kick. The creature gasped for breath and slashed at Jak. He ducked and ran backwards, not eager to lose any limbs in the near future. Jak stood by the wall and waited for it to charge. As it did, Jak leaped into the air and smirked as the creature hit the wall with a comical splat behind him. Jak spun around and deflected another red beam from the thing's eye.
Jak saw another blast of acid fly at him and halted it with his Blue Eco Box. As the monster rushed at him, Jak shot the liquid right at it. As the acid melted the monster the monster from the inside out, it landed on the floor, its eye flipping back to red. Jak stabbed it right in the eye and it shrieked.
Jak covered his ears as the volume reached such a pitch that the glass in his goggles shattered and went flying around. As Jak took the goggles off, he called the miniature sun he had made and prepared to absorb it. He saw the creature moved out of the corner of his eyes and threw the ball right at it. The monster went up in flames and burned to ash.
Jak winced as the room was flooded with light, his pupils not used to the brightness. He saw another door and noticed how every time he went into a room, it was always a higher elevation. Jak wondered how high in the tower he had managed to go. As he walked into the next room, he hoped he was most of the way done, because he was starting to get seriously hungry. As he stopped and sat down, he took his backpack off and pulled Daxter out. He found the sandwich Keira had packed him and stepped into the next room. To his relief, a bright light met his eyes. Across the room was the sight he had been waiting for: The Oracle of the Green Eco Temple.
Once again, Jak crossed the chamber to the Oracle. As he approached it, the green eyes lit up. "You are to be commended for surviving another terrible trial, great one." The Oracle said in it's deep resounding voice. Jak's heart sunk at it's next words. "It is with much regret that I tell you that the worst times are yet to come." Jak and Daxter looked at each other with exhaustion in their eyes. The Oracle spoke again: "As you have already met my Blue and Yellow colored brothers, you are well aware that I will enhance your Econetic abilities, answer one question, and give you the Power Cells that reside in me"
"Oh! Oh! I got the perfect question! Were you guys as ugly in real life as your statues are?" Jak rolled his eyes, and he could have sworn he saw the Oracle do the same with its Power Cell eyeballs.
"We Oracles were unkempt, it is true. Our wisdom and knowledge earned us respect from our fellow villagers." Jak slapped his face: why did the Oracle answer such a stupid question?
"I cannot answer that question, warrior, without wasting an answer. I sense that you wish to now what I meant by 'the worst times are yet to come.' The Dark Lord will soon have another apprentice, and although I am forbidden from giving you vital information, I can give you a warning. Beware of the darker side of the heart. Anger, jealousy, fear, aggression, hatred… all lead to a dark path of destruction, devastation, and despair." Jak's body grew cold with this dark pronouncement, for it reminded him of Samos' first lessons.
"Ands now, it is time for you to receive new abilities warrior." Jak stepped into the green circle and felt the familiar stinging pass to a feeling of contentment. "Now you have a more powerful Green Eco Shield, as well as another ability I am forbidden from telling you about. In addition, I have given your body the ability to Channel two types of Eco simultaneously." Jak bowed to the Oracle before removing the Power Cells from its eyes.
Instead of a door opening behind the Oracle, like had happened in the two temples before, the floor shot him up. Jak landed next to a Blue Eco Vent and charged up. No sooner was he done than the floor launched him again before allowing him to recharge his Green, and then Red Eco Boxes. When Jak arrived at the Yellow Eco Vent, as he stored the Eco inside his box, he formed two Eco Blades. When he was shot up for the final time, he landed on the top of the Green Eco Temple. Jak could see the smoke coming from Volcanic Crater, and could make out a desert far to the north underneath the Spider Caves. He could no longer see his hometown, but he was able to just barely make out the steam erupting from the Fire Canyon. As Jak made to jump off the Temple, he met with an invisible barrier. A shriek from above made Jak look up. A gigantic bird seemed to be spiraling down towards him; Jak correctly assumed that this was the boss of the Green Eco Temple, the Guardian of the Green Eco Oracle.
The bird pinned its wings and dive-bombed Jak. He leapt up and over it and dived into its back. As he landed he brought his swords down in an X-shaped slash. To his surprise, his swords were sucked right into the bird's back. Jak back-flipped off as it ruffled itself. As he landed he noticed just how big this thing really was. Each of its wings were as big as him. It let out a shriek and charged him, trying to crush him with its talons. Jak bobbed and weaved in and out, peppering it with small Yellow Eco blasts. Just like with the swords, they seemed to be suck up into the bird's flesh "Fool." Jak looked with shock at his opponent, surprised that it spoke. "You try to defeat me with Eco? I will show you what I, Gohma, Queen of all birds can do." As it finished its pronouncement, it's mask that covered the majority of its face seemed to glow even more golden. A massive beam of Yellow Eco was launched at Jak. He caught it with his hands and absorbed as much as he could into his Yellow Eco Box. The two swords that remained he threw away, not eager to give his opponent any more power. As Gohma dived at him again he erected a shield of Green Eco. Just as with his swords, it did nothing except get pulled into the mask covering the bird's face. As it's body glowed green, Jak assumed it was giving itself extra stamina.
It took flight again and Jak decided to match his opponent in the air. They both flied around, circling each other. Jak decided to take full advantage and Channeled Red Eco as he was flying. To his surprise, it no longer hurt like getting trampled by a rampaging Yakow, but it made him feel more confident. He flew at it and landed on the mask, which immediately began sucking his energy away. He started hammering away at the skull, but with all his might he could not even produce a crack. Realizing it was futile, Jak leapt off and absorbed the beam of Red Eco the mask sent back at him.
As he landed, Jak realized it was almost a stalemate. If he touched it while Channeling, it would just either send his power back at him, which he could reabsorb, or heal itself. But if Jak never gave it Green Eco, it would be unable. Therefore, the advantage was his.
"I'm getting tired of standing around, are we going to fight or not?" Gohma called as she dived once again. Jak ran in and landed on the bird without Channeling. He quickly discovered he hadn't really thought past that, as it once again took flight, with him barely hanging on. He poked it in the eye and it barrel rolled, sending him into the air. He stabilized himself and was smacked to the ground by a gigantic wing. As he impacted the ground, Gohma pinned him there and flicked his Blue and Yellow Eco Boxes on. After draining Jak of those energies and she then bled his Red and Green Eco Boxes dry. She then charged up her mask so that it rapidly flashed blue, then red, then yellow, then green.
"Hey, Queenie!" Gohma swiveled around to look at Daxter. He was holding Jak's Hookshot that Jak had stored in his backpack. He was aiming it with great difficulty at the eyes in the mask. He fired and one of the eyes was punctured. Gohma took off and Jak leaped up onto her talons. As he struggled to keep his balance, he noticed small claps on the mask. He tried to undo them, but his hands were much too big. As he touched it, he felt his body Channeling Blue Eco. After draining as much he dared, he flew to the ground. He scooped Daxter up and dropped him on Gohma's head. As Daxter shrieked in protest, Jak pointed to the clasps. Daxter nodded and started fumbling with them.
Jak grabbed the Hookshot and flew into the air once again. This time he used it like a close-range weapon, using the metal tip as a sword. To his pleasure, every time he made a slash, it healed: his strategy was to make Gohma use up all of her Green Eco. When they stopped healing, Jak really went on the offensive.
"What in the name of Legatee is taking Daxter so long?" Jak wondered as he saw his diminutive friend on Gohma's back. He stopped pondering when Gohma shot a beam of Blue Eco at him. To his surprise, Jak stopped moving. As he flew towards Gohma, the bird was moving faster than he was. So was Daxter. Jak realized the Blue Eco was slowing him down. He was smacked by the wing again and hit by another Blue Eco beam. This one accelerated him so that his landing was much harder than it had to be. Jak dodged as the bird once again tried to stab him. He absorbed Yellow Eco just as the mask fell off the head and onto the ground.
In a flash, Jak sliced the bird's head off and incinerated the skull. As the flames died, a breeze carried the dust away and Jak sighed. At last, at long last this nightmare of a Temple was complete. A bright glow off to the side caught his attention and he whirled around. Exhausted though he was, he could not allow his adversary to see it, because what they didn't know could neither help them or hurt him. The crown that the bird had been wearing was glowing brilliantly. As it melted away, a dozen Power Cells fell to the ground.
"No wonder this thing was so damned hard to crack," Jak thought as he picked up the twelve Power Cells. A Warp Gate appeared from a hidden panel in the floor and Jak set it for the one in Volcanic Crater. As Jak jumped through, he thought with longing of the bed that was waiting for him at the house.
Jak landed and a grunt caught his attention as he walked towards the bedroom. He saw Keira sitting by the window facing the entrance to the Volcanic Crater. Jak smiled softly as he realized she had been waiting for him to return. Jak walked over to her and picked her up. As he carried her to the room, the fatigue and exhaustion on his body finally began to affect him. As he laid her down on the bed, he finally collapsed next to her. He crawled away, barely able to move, but not wanting Keira to find him sleeping next to her. It was different in the cave, they were both in danger of dying from hypothermia. As he made it to the sofa, he figured that was about as far as he was going to get, and he would take it. As he collapsed on the sofa, he smiled, happy he got to hold Keira again.
"Damn that elf! If it wasn't for him, I could have gone past that girl and escaped…" Escuro thought as she pulled herself out of the lava. It had been a long swim from one side of the lava pool to the other, but she had made it. She was now trying to climb into a small cave. It wasn't easy, as she only had two arms that were sheared off at the elbow. As she collapsed onto the floor, she thought bitterly that she would have revenge against Gol for stealing her life and death. And, if possible, she would re-challenge that little insect and show him what it meant to mess with her. She collapsed on the floor, unaware that creatures had emerged from the shadows to look at her pathetic burned, mutilated and scorched body. One of the creatures raised its hand and Escuro's body was levitated off the floor. Theyreceded into the darkness her form following them into the cave, as the creature conversed rapidly between themselves. The were peculiar: neither Lurker nor elfish, but somehow looking like both, and yet like neither one.
Hey guys, sorry about all this. I know this chapter probably sucked more than anything else out there, but I found this one very hard. I also apologize for the suckiness of the Temple, how I barely moved the plot along, the many bosses, Jak getting his ass kicked repeatedly… the list goes on and on. Anyway, with luck Chapter Nineteen will be much better. The heroes will finally continue their way north through the Spider Caves, and I think that this one will be easier to write.