animedragongirl- Well, I'm glad I recommended your story, and I didn't do it for redemption. I figure everyone should enjoy the comedic antics of your genius. I have many, many copies of restraining orders, but for some reason the safe guy contacted me and said they were all gone, so I have gone into hiding at the federal prison thanks to George Lucas. I still don't know what I did. As for the guy you chased, that was my clone. Convincing, no> :P. Keep up with the hilarity of The Jak and Daxter Prank War (A MUST READ!) and come up with some more pranks soon.
Red Mage 04- Yup, all we need now is a tall, dark armored cyborg with a breathing problem. But your not gonna get it. I realized I used some Star Wars quotes a bit too much, but as to the dark side, I don't mean the force, I mean of the human nature. For example, I am sure in nearly every version of Jak II, Jak at some point and time comes to rely on and faith in his Dark Eco powers. There have been Sages of all Ecos since the beginning of civilization. There have been good Dark Sages, and bad Red, Blue, Yellow and Green Sages. For example, the only thing stopping Samos from being evil and trying to use his powers to suck the life out of other creatures, transfer it to his body, and make himself immortal are his ethics. At least my battle scenes are improving, because that's what this chapter is: one big battle. Sorry to say, but you won't see the Red Eco Temple today, that is a chore for next week, and right in time for Halloween, too. Keep up the good work with your own story, and please update soon. Oh, I forgot to mention this, but I think that Kage should at some point in time save Vegar's life. I think that would cause the (as Kage so benevolently put it) "thrice be damned councilman" to be put in agony, knowing he owed his life to the very being he despises so much.
Amathist Fwirrel- No, I think part of the design for Samos was derived from Yoda. Because face it, Yoda kicks ass. The looking, I'm just wondering how long you spent in therapy, and at the same time betting that it wasn't half as long as my therapist said it was. Hehe, Darth Mar. No, you don't need to comment on my writing but I appreciate that you do. Yes, I am a Star Wars junkie, but after this chapter, you really won't be seeing a lot of intentional influence. One note though, and you probably noticed, but you got the names mixed up: Benedict is becoming a type of Anakin, not Jak.
Lauren- You probably did review, but it can take up to an entire day for it to show up. Yea, I know I'm risking being sued by Lucas, but in my opinion, I love Star Wars. And I love it so much I figured I should write a chapter using the dialogue from the movie. Fortunately, this isn't going to last; this chapter will be the last one that rips off on Star Wars, and it won't even be a lot (just a little dialogue). Also, don't criticize my reviewers, because they don't criticize you.
The Parallel Power War: Duel of the Apprentices
Jak and Benedict charged each other, whirling their Sabers around in an attempt to disorientate and confuse the other. Jak leapt into the air as Benedict swung his double bladed sword, not only dodging the attack, but placing himself in an ideal spot to end the fight with only one blow. As he stabbed, Benedict flipped his Saber around and parried the block without looking. He spun around, putting so much force behind his blade that Jak had to step back. As Benedict struck and chopped, Jak found himself desperately blocking and dodging. After a minute of this, Jak knew he had to get back on the offensive or he would never win. As he ducked a swipe, he punched Benedict in the chest and sent his opponent staggering back a few inches. Benedict instantly tried to strike Jak once again, coming in low intending to cut Jak's feet out from under him. Or just plain off, it really didn't matter to him. Jak blocked it and struck forward, swinging his Saber horizontally to decapitate the dark Channeler.
Benedict blocked the blow with ease, but was frustrated. Being trained by Gravis meant that this fight should have already been over, but it appeared that Jak's swordsmanship had improved greatly in the small amount of time that had passed. He was distracted by his musings by Jak trying to cut him in half by the waist. Rather that blocking Jak with the same side, Benedict simply changed his swords angle slightly and once again blocked the incoming blow. As Jak blocked and struck, he slowly pushed the bigger Channeler away. He continued walking towards Benedict, both ensuring his opponent would not get a chance to rest and hoping that with his back against the wall, his adversary would flee.
Benedict quickly caught onto Jak's game plan and back flipped, landing on a boulder. Jak jumped up to meet him, bringing his sword straight down. Benedict blocked and elbowed Jak in the face as he landed. Jak was stunned momentarily from the blow and was punched in the jaw. He fell backwards off the boulder and landed on his back. As Benedict came down, he deflected the blow and kicked him in the stomach. Benedict backed off, gasping for air as Jak got to his feet. They both took deep breaths as they surveyed each other, thinking of a new strategy. Jak came in with his Saber horizontal, but quickly changed it to a downward slash. Benedict brought his weapon up vertically to block the incoming slash when Jak flipped angled and quickly had to change his own to avoid dying. They locked blades for an instant and Jak backed off, not wanting to get into a struggle of brute force. He spun around three hundred and sixty degrees and tried to sheer Benedict's legs off. Rather than blocking it, Benedict simply jumped into the air and did a split, effectively dodging the mortal blow.
As his opponent landed, Jak brought his sword down to the right but was blocked. He moved to his side so his arm was ticking straight out and waited for Benedict to take the bait. As his opponent made to slice the appealing limb off, Jak moved his arm out of harms way so fast it appeared to simply vanish. As he pulled his arm back, Jak rotated on the ball of his left foot and kicked Benedict in the chest with the heel of his right. The two of them circled each other again, trying to think of a strategy that would win the match. Jak backed off half a step and waited, wanting to be on the defensive for a bit and lure Benedict in. As the Channeler was attacked, he flipped his blade so he was holding it knife-style. He quickly blocked the torrent off attacks coming at him and tried to slice Benedict's feet off again. He was blocked and as the dark blade came up, his Saber was throw into the air. Benedict smiled at the defeated opponent but then frowned. If Jak had truly lost, why was he just standing there. Benedict backed off and was immediately thankful that he did; Jak's Saber imbedded itself in the ground and if he hadn't of moved, Benedict would have caught the sword in the top of his head. Jak grabbed the Saber out of the ground and blocked an incoming strike at his face.
Benedict snarled as he pushed Jak back; his hatred and anger feeding his body and giving extra power. He brought one blade straight down and then flipped his sword so that he would cut Jak in half from between the legs up. Jak jumped straight up as the weapon came in and landed on Benedict's sword. He balanced on the hilt of the double bladed sword for an instant before hopping down. As Benedict staggered to regain his balance, Jak came in with a level slash aimed at the hips. Unfortunately for him, it was blocked. Benedict came in with two quick blows on opposite sides of Jak's head. Jak blocked them with lightning quick efficiency and brought his blade crashing down.
Benedict saw the blow and decided that he could either end the fight here and now or draw it out and make Jak suffer. He chose the latter and widened his grip on his sword. His hands were now bordering on being burned away from his own twin Sabers, but he needed to whole hilt to use this move effectively. He brought it up quickly and Jak got hit in the wrists by the blow. In addition, his attack was now nullified. Benedict pushed up, throwing Jak off balance and spun around and kicked the Channeler in the chest. Jak went flying back and slammed into a nearby rock. As his body crumpled to the ground, he healed himself with Green Eco. He looked over at his opponent, smiling in that smug fashion and the blood began to pound in his ears. Jak shook his head, not wanting to allow his anger to be his downfall and leapt into the air. As he landed a few feet away from Benedict, he leapt in and struck at the same time, using the momentum from his landing carry him forward.
Jak slammed his Saber into Benedict's, not really aiming to hit him, but wanting to gain momentum from a series of hits that would throw his adversary off balance. His drive was broken when he had to duck an incoming blow. He saw Benedict getting ready to cut him from the back as he came up and put his Saber behind his back and blocked the blow. He quickly brought it back in front of his chest to block a hit that would have done the same thing on the front side; sheer him in half. The two exchanged about fifteen blows in the next three seconds and backed off again, trying to scare each other by whirling their Sabers around in intricate pattern. Benedict spun around two times before swinging one side of his sword in. He pulled it towards him so it wouldn't be a threat, but then quickly thrust it out again and stopped moving. He brought the same side in from an opposite direction and was dismayed when Jak didn't fall for his trick.
Jak brought his knee up and slammed it into the hilt of Benedict's sword. As it came up, Jak spun around and sliced it cleanly in half. He frowned as he watched it simply separate into two different blades. He had expected at least one (if not both), of the Sabers to be deactivated. Benedict looked down at his new Sabers and then glared at Jak.
"Round one goes to you Jak, but I will win the war."
"We will see," Jak responded telepathically. Benedict roared and brought his swords in, screaming all the time.
"Damn," thought Jak as Benedict attacked mercilessly. "I thought he was hard with that damned fancy double sided Saber." The two of them locked Sabers and once again leapt back, not caring the other saw them gasp for breath. Jak wondered how long they had been fighting. He put it a range of about an hour without rest. He steadied his Saber and waited for Benedict to come off the rock he was standing on.
Jak watched Benedict tense up and he leapt at the same time as the Dark Channeler. He blocked an incoming strike as Benedict spun around and attacked with his back turned. Jak tried to end the fight with a blow to the head but Benedict must have known it was coming, as the dark Saber blocking Jak's strike testified. Benedict crossed his arms as he lashed out yet again at Jak and was surprised at the speed with which Jak blocked and countered. Jak ducked and back flipped as Benedict spun around and made a double strike at the same time. He rushed back in with an overhead chop and the two of them meleed for a while, swinging their Sabers so fast it would have been impossible to differentiate them had they not been different colors. Indeed, Jak found himself almost guessing at which Saber was which, they both moved so fast.
Jak knocked away both of Benedict's Sabers with one strike and slash, but Benedict simply jumped over Jak with a flip and some twirls. Benedict landed in a combat stance and ran in, holding one of his Sabers knife-style. He charged and attempted to sheer Jak in half with the Saber farther away from Jak, but did not succeed. As he ran past Jak he swung the Saber that was closer backwards and glared at nothing in particular when he felt it stop. He continued spinning and swinging, giving himself a dradle-like appearance. Jak blocked the incoming strikes that were varied in height and once or twice had to jump or duck to avoid being cut in half. As the strikes became faster, Jak knew he wouldn't be able to block fast enough and he started to back-peddle. It was a move that would prove to be a mistake.
Benedict stopped his assault as he watched Jak back off and deactivated one of his Sabers. He held both in his normal hand and punched with the new one made from Precursor metal. Jak went flying back as he felt wind emanate from the hand. He stared at Benedict in shock he avoided another "punch" and turned around as he heard a crunching sound behind him. A rock that was behind him had a crater in it that was about six inches around. Jak once again stared at his friend turned opponent.
"Nice new trick huh?" Benedict said smugly. Jak just kept staring, at a lost for words, even if he could speak. Benedict smiled; Jak's mind was numb, most likely with fear. Benedict rushed in with another double strike and Jak jumped over Benedict. Benedict followed Jak with his eye and rushed in. Jak did a split in the air to keep his legs and punched Benedict as he landed. As Benedict stepped back, Jak rushed in and tossed his Saber into the air. Benedict's eyes followed the weapon rather than the opponent and he paid for it. Jak turned both of his hands into palm heels and inverted them so the palms were facing up. He rushed in and brought his hands into his own chest. He reached Benedict and struck, slamming the dark Channeler in the ribs, and probably breaking a few of them in the process. Benedict slammed backwards into a rock and went right through it. Jak caught his Eco Saber and began walking slowly towards Benedict, his hair and clothes blowing around in the wind that was picking up. Benedict snarled and picked up a piece of rock with his metal hand. After crushing it into powder, he hurled the dust at Jak and the Channeler leapt back as a strike came in that he could not see.
Jak wiped at his eyes furiously, trying to clear his vision before he was cut down by the most skilled opponent he had faced yet. Benedict came rushing in, eager to take advantage of his opponent's apparent weakness and received a swift kick to the chest as a reward for not thinking clearly. As he backed up, he once again became consumed by his rage and attacked blindly. Jak blocked all of the incoming strikes before sliding between Benedict's feet. He flipped up and began the duel again, thinking with satisfaction of how much he was annoying Benedict. Jak had noticed that while his power and speed increased with his rage, Benedict's technique fell sharply. It was only a matter of time until he screwed up, and then Jak would take his chance and end this conflict.
Jak once again blocked an incoming blow from below and spun the Saber so that it flew out of Benedict's hand and into the pool of lava, where it sank below the molten lake. Benedict slashed downward frantically, but was blocked and again disarmed. He stared in shock as Jak pointed his Saber at his heart. Jak couldn't bring himself to kill his friend and instead decided to kick him. Through another rock.
Benedict struggled to sit up as Jak approached him. He scurried backwards as Jak came nearer and nearer. Benedict wanted to run away and hide from those eye, but he would not give Jak the satisfaction. Jak looked down at Benedict as he drew closer, his eyes literally a blue fire through the dust rising up from the mess that the two of them had made. He stopped walking and pitied the poor soul that had immersed itself in darkness and hatred in exchange for power. Jak had no doubt that if Benedict lived, and if his power continued to grow at the pace that it had, then he would soon undoubtedly be the stronger of the two. That didn't stop Jak from feeling sorry. The elf in front of him had allowed Gol to twist and distort his sense of reality until he became evil himself. Jak wondered briefly what Gol could have said to Benedict, but then decided it really didn't matter; Benedict knew what Gol was. Jak turned on his red Eco Saber and stared down at the elf that had such a burning agony in his soul. Jak gazed into the dark brown pools of hate and anger that had once held laughter and happiness and saw a wave of yellow pass into the whites just as the brown parts turned dark black. After what seemed like an eternity to the both of them, Jak telekinetically spoke to Benedict.
"You are powerful, but that is your greatest weakness. The flaw of power is arrogance," Jak said as he raised his Saber. Benedict's eyes widened as he responded verbally.
"You hesitate; the flaw of compassion," Jak suddenly noticed Benedict's metal hand was open as if to grab something. He spun around and snatched the flying Saber that had been aimed at his heart and held it and the red one up to Benedict's neck as he crossed them into a scissor fashion. Benedict's eyes widened in fear as he realized Jak was going to kill him. He raised his real hand and a ball of Dark Eco formed. He aimed it at Keira and Jak's eyes widened in fear.
"The instant I see you move, I fire, and she dies Jak." Benedict snarled. Jak looked in horror at the elf that had once protected Keira to the best of his ability now use her life as if it was nothing.
"I hope he falls for my bluff," Benedict thought. "I have no intention of harming Keira. But I have to use her as a threat." Jak backed off and Benedict suddenly launched at ball in Keira's direction. If Jak had taken the time to look, he would have seen that the ball would not have hit Keira, but was in fact aimed at some point to her left. But since he did not see it, he rushed in and took the hit that was meant for her.
Jak groaned as the unbearable pain washed over him. He was dead, he knew it, it felt like every nerve was on fire. White hot knives poke him from every angle, and his brain started to slip into the blissful holds of unconsciousness. He struggled to keep awake, knowing that if he slept, he died, and if he died, so did any hope for Keira's survival. He struggled to his feet but was blasted backwards by a wind blast from Benedict's right arm. He saw his Saber lying on the ground some feet behind Bneedict.
"This is the end for you Jak," Benedict said softly as he held his Saber up high. Jak knew what he was going to do and crawled over to a place where the dust was very loose. As Benedict launched his air blast, Jak rolled backwards and darted out under cover of the dust cloud that had risen up. He ran past Benedict and leapt into the air and rolled into a landing. He grabbed his Eco Saber and waited as he circled his opponent, waiting for Benedict to begin the art of exchanging blows.
As they two elves circled each other, Benedict decided to let Jak come to him. Rather than looking at Jak's body, Benedict stared straight into Jak's eyes, resisting the urge to shudder. Gravis had told him that right before launching an attack, elves and Lurkers both had a instinctive tendency to open their eyes just a bit wider.
And sure enough, that was exactly what happened when Jak eventually lost patience, and lunged at Benedict, who easily brought his dark Saber down to block the attack, and then ducked beneath a kick that the Channeler had aimed at him. Quickly, the Dark Channeler swung his weapon forged by the hands of the Precursors at his nemesis' exposed back, only to find Jak's own Saber coming back to intercept it, forcing his towards the ground. Jak completed his rotation and caused Benedict to spin around. With a battle cry, Benedict continued spinning and attempted to backhand Jak with his metallic forearm, a blow that Jak only just avoided.
The Channeler performed a back flip, and landed a good five feet away from Benedict before bringing his red Eco Saber up to an attack position and glaring at his opponent. Benedict did the same, and for several moments, there was another lull in the fight while the two of them slowly circled one another, each trying to find a weakness, something that could be exploited.
This time, it would be Benedict that struck first, leaping forward and bringing his dark weapon up from below in an attack that would have cut Jak from his left hip to his right shoulder had Jak not parried. Not discouraged in the slightest, Benedict pressed his attacks, slicing to and fro as he attempted to bring his opponent down.
However, Benedict's offense was stolen away when his enemy suddenly knocked the dark Eco Saber up high, before following through with a thrust kick to his chest that cracked a rib and sent him staggering. Unfortunately, as Jak brought his own weapon down in an attempt to split the dark Channeler's head open, Benedict was able to get his foil up in time to deflect the attack. The two blades grated against each other for a few seconds, sending sparks flying as the two adversaries snarled in each others faces as they grinded their weapons into each other even harder, as if hoping theirs would simply cut through the other's. Benedict smiled inwardly as he Channeled a small amount of Dark Eco and let it's healing factor take over.
Abruptly, Benedict broke the blade lock and backed away, balling up his left fist. Jak let out a curse as the Dark Channeler sent a storm of Dark Eco bolts at him as he furiously weaved his own Eco Saber back and forth as he frantically backpedaled in an attempt to get some distance between himself and his foe. Oh how Jak would have loved to have the power to control the direction of Dark Eco blasts like he could with Yellow Eco.
Such were Jak's thoughts as he leapt into the air in order to avoid a charged up blast from the Dark Eco using elf's real arm. And it was also at that time that he decided that he'd need to get up close and take away Benedict's ranged abilities, as he didn't really want to use any Eco unless he lost his weapon.
As he attempted to close the distance, Benedict opened fire once more, and Jak leapt forward and to his left, performing a barrel role type spin while in mid-leap, his red-lighted weapon deflecting a few bolts that came close as his foe adjusted his aim. Jak performed the maneuver yet again, trying to throw Benedict off, before a third such leap placed him back in melee range.
Roaring in fury as he blocked the elf's opening attacks, Benedict put his Saber in his metal hand and swung with all of his enhanced might. Jak saw the amount of power behind the technique and opted to duck below the slash, rather than attempting to block it. However, the wisdom of such an action was revealed an instant later, as the Channeler continued through with his acrobatics, and brought his right foot slamming up into Benedict's face as he pushed off with his left.
Benedict felt stars explode in front of his vision as the kick, driven by Jak's considerable strength, connected. In a blind attempt to buy himself some time, he switched sword hands again and fired wind blasts wildly in the direction of his opponent.
Jak, still in the process of landing from his flip, had no time to react, and bared his teeth in defiance as a couple of the blasts connected and made him go flying back. In an attempt to remove himself from the rather precarious position that he now found himself in, Jak leapt once more, using Blue Eco to stay in the air this time and go up and over Benedict, before coming down in an attempt to get rid of that little annoyance on the bionic arm once and for all.
Unfortunately for the elf, his foe was able to spin out of the way in time, and he once again lashed out with his cybernetic arm. On the bright side of things, Benedict's blow was made hastily, and as a result, was quite maladroit and effortless to avoid. Such a move also put the demented elf in a rather compromising position, something that Jak was swift in taking advantage of. He quickly put his Saber away and grabbed the wrist of his opponent and pulled it so it was across Jak's chest. He then struck a pressure point right below the elbow that caused Benedict's arm to bend. Jak made his left hand into a knife and struck the tricep of Benedict's right arm. While it didn't really hurt, it did give Jak the chance to pivot and drive Benedict into the ground via the use of a relatively easy technique known as the armbar. Jak knelt down, keeping Benedict's arm with the attachment firmly plastered to the ground, and struck Benedict's left hand, causing the dark Channeler to drop his weapon. Jak planted his left knee into Benedict's right shoulder and twisted the arm so that the elbow faced up. Jak smashed his other knee down on the weak point and Benedict screamed in pain and started thrashing around on the floor as the bones in his elbow shattered.
Jak got up off his opponent, believing his finished, and turned around when he heard Benedict roar. Benedict had risen and threw a wild punch, his right arm bent at an angle that it really should not have been in. Even as it glowed purple and straightened itself out, Jak slammed his fist into Benedict's face and blood seeped out. For a second the fighting halted, and dark brown eyes locked with blue ones, one burning with hatred, the other ablaze with a mixture of righteous anger and pity. The owner of the latter pair deftly held his hand up, the red stain upon it revealing the truth for all to see, if there were any around to see it.
First blood went to Jak.
Benedict evidently didn't like that too much, and he once again brought his arm to bear upon the Channeler, firing small blasts not much larger than a golf ball as fast as he could.
Daxter, watched as his best friend expertly deflected the barrage that was sent at him, and then leapt over yet another larger blast. The Ottsel's mouth was dry, and he swallowed in a vain attempt to solve the problem, while he and his friend.
Benedict stuck his hand out and the handle of his Eco Saber flew into the metal appendage and turned on. Benedict once again smirked at Jak, showing that he had a more advanced weapon on his side.
Jak swung for Benedict's head but his attack was blocked. With lightning speed he reversed his blade and came in to the left at his adversary's stomach, planning on disemboweling him, but again was blocked. Benedict backed off an inch and stabbed, but Jak parried away his attack. Jak spun around with the parry and aimed his Saber right at Benedict's head. To his annoyance, he was blocked yet again. He came in up and to the right, yet Benedict proved to be much too quick for Jak. Benedict swiftly parried Jak's attack once more before coming twice: aiming for the left knee and then the right one. Jak was barely able to block, and he was pushed to his knees as Bneedict used brute force to try to unbalance him with an overhead smash.
Benedict kneed Jak in the chest and then kicked him in the face. Jak went sprawling backwards and landed on his back. Benedict slammed his Saber down at Jak's throat but Jak grabbed Benedict's hand. Benedict's Saber got closer and closer to Jak's throat as they vied for control.
Jak suddenly spotted a weakness in Benedict's battle stance; his legs were open. Jak winced as he swung his shin up and grimaced as he heard Benedict's gasp of pain; he knew how much it hurt to be hit there. Benedict went down, clutching himself and received a kick in the head. The two of them laid down and waited for their individual pains to subside. Jak healed himself via his Green Eco Box and Benedict closed his eyes and a dark light covered his body. The Channelers got to their feet and once again engaged each other.
Jak shoved Benedict back and sliced at his waist again. Benedict did a whole front-flip over Jak's head and landed opposite him. Jak swung around to prevent his head from being parted with his shoulders. The two of them leapt back and tried to get a bearing of where to attack next.
"C'mon Jak, you're disappointing me. I guess I should just take Keira and be off," Benedict taunted as he twirled his blade and came in for Jak's shoulder and then his arm. Both attacks were blocked, and the two of them locked blades as they circled each other. Jak glared at Benedict, seeing through his feeble attempt to confuse him by getting him angry. Jak broke free and spun around. Benedict blocked Jak's next three attempts on his life and the two of them locked blades once more. Jak charged up a ball of Yellow Eco and Benedict charged one up using Dark Eco. The two of them fired at the same time and the small orbs of Eco slammed against each other. The two of them pushed harder, trying to make their blast cut through the others'. The two balls of Eco exploded and they both went flying back.
Jak got to his feet and leapt back into the fray as Benedict made mirrored movements. Benedict spun his blade in his hand above his head a few times before swinging it at Jak. The Channeler spun his Saber to block it and spun his body around the evil elf. Benedict spun with Jak, never taking his eyes off his opponent. He blocked a blow that would have severed his head from its shoulders had it connected and they locked blades again. Jak sighed as Benedict attempted to out-muscle him. He spun away and began a furious series of attacks. Benedict waved his sword back and forth furiously as he blocked. Jak kicked Benedict's sword out of his hand and it joined it's other half in the lava. He swung down and Benedict grabbed Jak's hand with his metal one. He squeezed harder and Jak groaned as his wrist snapped. He released the Saber by reflex and Benedict snatched it. He then tossed it into the lava. Jak watched his weapon sink beneath the lava and looked questioningly at Benedict.
"I would rather die then finish you off with your weapon."
"You never know. That might just happen," Jak responded as he cracked his knuckles and neck at the same time. He flipped on his Red and Blue Eco Boxes and began fighting with hand to hand combat with Benedict. He two of them exchanged blows so fast that to the untrained eye it would appear as if they were merely flailing their limbs around in a haphazard way.
The two of them punched at the same time and bent in before pushing off. Jak ran in and performed a spinning back side kick. Benedict caught Jak's foot and twisted. Jak went down and Benedict began twisting Jak's knee. Jak brought his other leg back and planted it into Benedict's chest. The Dark Channeler stumbled back before forming a Dark Eco ball into his real hand. Jak did the same with both of his; it appeared as if this was going to turn from a swordfight into a battle that would rely on Channeling abilities.
Jak made the first move, diving off to his firing, firing small Yellow Eco pellets all the time. Benedict leapt in the opposite direction, moving with speed and agility to rival Jak's. The tormenter came up shooting his own blasts, his projectiles spitting rapid three shot bursts at the powerful elf. The Channeler could feel the heat as the Dark Eco sped by, coming within inches of making contact, and was forced to quickly reconsider his estimation of Benedict's aiming capabilities.
On the other hand, this was not to say that Jak was in any way inferior to his nemesis. The Channeler proved this by activating his Blue Eco Box to enhance his physical abilities. Jak performed a super-elfin leap, completely leaving the Dark Channeler's field of view, and getting off no less than four bursts. The shots hit home and Jak grinned as Benedict keeled over. When Benedict stood back up, there were holes in his shirt, but blood was not seeping out of the wounds. When Benedict ripped the shirt off, Jak understood why: there were no wounds. Benedict had some kind of armor (black, like everything else he was wearing) that protected his vital organs from penetration by Eco Blasts. The older elf retaliated with several bursts of his own once he had lined Jak back up in his sights, and while Jak was able to harness his Blue Eco enhanced agility to dodge most of the projectiles or use his forearm armor to dissipate them altogether, Benedict did succeed in bringing several beams dangerously close to Jak's ears. The Channeler fired as he leapt again, but as it was before, the shots connected, but did nothing to his foe.
Realizing that the armor protected him too well to be damaged by normal shots, the Eco harnessing elf quickly took cover behind a three foot high raised portion of the ground while he waited. The elf waited as he charged up a beam of sufficient power, his ears becoming his eyes. As his muscles tensed, Jak waited for anything that would betray where Benedict was. Then, he heard the slight 'thump' as a boot moved through dirt and dust. In an instant, he had sprang up and unleashed the charged up bolt.
Benedict's eyes widened to roughly the size of Flut-Flut egg as he saw the small yellow meteor come sailing in towards him. The dark Channeler jumped to the side, but due to Jak's ingenuity, still had some of his facial hair scorched off and felt a pain shot along the side of his head as bits of heated stone and metal pelted his face. Still, Benedict counted his blessings when he looked behind him and discovered an eleven-inch crater where the blast had hit.
Benedict growled at Jak. He formed a ball of Dark Eco that was roughly the size of a volleyball and squeezed it down to the size of a baseball. He tossed it at Jak, who easily dodged it. After hearing a small noise, Jak turned around and saw the ball had actually bounced off of the rock behind him and rolled along the ground until it came to a rest right next to the elf.
Now it was Jak's turn to feel his eyes grow wide, and he hurled himself from his cover. Still, the small Eco bomb was about the same as a plasmite grenade, and he had not gotten more than four-and-a-half feet away when it exploded. A scream would have torn its way from Jak's throat had he been able to communicate vocally as when the heat washed over him. Pain that swiftly increased as he went right through a rock and came to rest. Unfortunately, that rest was right near the edge of the lava pit, and the heat swept over his body. His shirt caught on fire, and Jak stood up and began furiously patting himself off, the "Stop, Drop and Roll," technique Samos had shown him long ago forgotten. Finally, he got the fire off, though an acrid smell of burnt elf remained, and the shirt he had worn was now little more than thin ribbons of cloth held together haphazardly.
Willing away the pain and nausea of his wound, the Channeler stood tall as he healed himself. He then stared into the eyes of his foe, his own glowing orbs promising a hundred excruciating retaliations. Benedict coolly summoned another Dark Eco grenade in his hand, smirking at his adversary.
Jak was quick to take advantage of the distraction, putting another huge blast dead on a collision course with his archenemy. Too late, Benedict realized the error of concentrating on past minor victories, and was blown off his feet as the comet connected with his upper body. He skidded for a small ways, finally coming to a stop perilously close to the edge of the ground. He teetered on the edge and nearly fell into the lava. Instantly realizing the danger he was in, Benedict leapt back up to his foe. No sooner had he done this, than a sharp hiss reached his ears, and he looked back to see a Yellow Eco Slash slice through the spot he had occupied a mere moment ago. At the same time, he registered the condition of his armor. Most of the plating had been damaged by the bolt, but thankfully, nothing else had been harmed, or the future could have looked bleak indeed.
Returning his attention to the battle, Benedict fired his grenade and as he expected, Jak dove away and to the right, trying to get far enough away so that he didn't have to risk getting blown off the edge. Finally realizing it would probably take far more to kill his opponent than he had originally expected, the dark Channeler used his artificial hand to fire on the dark elf his wind blasts with reckless abandon, and Jak felt more pain work its way through him. The pain was from a variety of things; either the wind caused bits of metal and dirt and stone to cut him, or the speed of the wind caused air to escape from the fresh cuts. Both were exceptionally painful, but Jak had to give the Most Painful Award to the wind blasts.
Jak fired another large shot again, but this time Benedict was ready, and dropped flat at the last minute. Quickly, Jak ducked behind cover and healing the lacerations covering his body. He leapt onto the rock and sprung away, not wishing to get another Dark Grenade fired at him. What instead met him was another barrage of smaller bolts as the dark Channeler got back to his feet, having taken advantage of the lull in the fighting to also heal the scars on his bulk. Jak's armor was quick to intercept these shots, sending them ricocheting about. This had the humorous effect of causing Benedict to drop back down again as a few whizzed back towards him. If he hadn't been fighting for his life, Jak would have smiled as Benedict leapt in the air and was forced to twirl like a ballerina to keep his limbs attached.
By this time, Benedict was beginning to lose patience due to the sheer stubbornness of his opponent. Opting to overkill, and assuming Jak would not be able to survive by what he was about to do, Benedict quickly summoned yet another Dark Grenade, and fired a wind blast from his Precursor forearm. No sooner did Benedict let the air discharge go than was a Dark Grenade fired, arcing over the small battlefield like a flare. As for Jak, well, he leapt out of the way of the wind beam, only to find that his foe had been examining him vigilantly and had foresaw almost exactly where he was going to land, and that was where the bomb was waiting for him. Jak was quick to fly upwards, but the concussion of the explosion was still sufficient to blow up and made him crash into the ceiling, though it was not enough to dissolve any more of his clothing.
Still, that was small consolation to the blinding pain that lanced through his skull as he impacted against the ceiling with enough force to make a small crack in it. Jak felt his world going black and desperately, he fought a losing battle to stay awake, realizing that to surrender to the pain would mean death by either incineration from the lava or by the hands of the elf that had nearly killed Keira. Twice.
Daxter watched as his best friend plummeted down towards the fiery abyss. He was helpless to do anything helpful as Jak's enemy laughed and turned around. He began to walk towards Keira, anger all over his face. Daxter wanted to run, far away from the elf that was so bent on having Keira. As the panic rose in his heart, a new feeling forged through: courage. His body stopped quivering and he stood as tall as he could. As Benedict approached, he saw the former elf stand boldly in front of Keira and smirked. As Daxter rushed in to bite him, Benedict simply brought his foot back to literally punt the diminutive rodent but never got the chance. Jak rushed in and blasted Benedict with a couple of well placed Yellow Eco Blasts before tackling him to the ground. Benedict roared in rage at Jak not dying and once again taking Keira away from him. He ran at Jak, who simply smiled in a smug fashion and leapt back. Jak continued to back-peddle, leading Benedict to the towers in the distance.
Benedict roared at Jak and lashed out with a vicious roundhouse kick, fury driving it to inflict pain upon the elf that had for so prevented him from having Keira. His rage driving him to speeds Jak was not quite prepared for, Benedict hit Jak with enough force to send him right through the wooden door.
Jak skidded along the smooth floor and did a reverse somersault to land on his feet. Benedict stormed in and threw another wild punch. Jak caught it and blocked to the inside, allowing his to score a few hits on Benedict's ribs. Benedict spun around and elbowed Jak in the face. The two of them charged up their hands with Eco, Benedict using Dark, and Jak using Yellow and Red in one hand each. They threw one punch each and caught the other's hand with their free hand. They began to try to out muscle each other, but seemed perfectly equal in power.
Streams of Eco danced around the room, causing delicate pieces of equipment to explode on contact. Jak's Eco was pushed back and he went flying back, hastily erecting a Green Eco shield to avoid feeling the pain of the Dark Eco as he went through another wall.
Benedict once again stepped through the hole in the wall that Jak's body had made. "Don't make me destroy you, Jak. You're no match for the power of Dark Eco. Accept that and let me leave with Keira, and I will let you live."
"I've heard that before, Benedict… but I never thought I'd hear it from you." Jak responded as he wearily got to his feet. "And I can't let you have Keira. You tried to kill her before-"
"I DID NOT!" Benedict screamed.
"Admit it. You are so insecure about her you don't want to accept the possibility that you have lost her." Jak said mentally. This comment drove Benedict nearly mad with rage and Jak blasted him away with a beam of Yellow Eco as he rushed in. Benedict went back through the hole in the wall and through another one that was smaller. Benedict looked up and saw Jak coming in to fight him. He picked up a container made out of Precursor metal and hurled it at Jak.
Jak jumped over the first one, but was not prepared for the second. The urn hit him in the chest and he went down. As Benedict rushed in, Jak kicked him in the stomach and got to his feet.
Once again, the two Channelers circled each other in their fighting stances and tried to find a weakness in the others defense. As they fought, they worked their way into an entry hallway. Jak kicked Benedict and the latter fell of the walkway on to another one. Jak jumped down and Benedict summoned a Dark Eco Blade. Jak summoned a Yellow Eco Blade to even up the score and their fight moved toward a control center. As Benedict pushed Jak backwards towards the room, their Blades flew around and bits of the hallway fell out of the wall as they got cut up. The two Channelers jumped and used every trick in the Book of Acrobatics as they got to a circular room.
View screens exploded around Benedict and Jak as they worked their way around the control room. The fighting got even more intense as they recalled their Blades and once again charged their hands with Eco. Jak went on the defensive as he jumped up on a table that projected a view screen of the surrounding area in the center of the room.
Benedict forced Jak back as jumps onto the conference table. Suddenly Jak went to his knees and slid across the table, knocking Benedict over. The two of them landed in an elevator that was about five feet in diameter. It began to rise, bringing the two clashing opponents along for the ride. The sparring became furiously fast-paced as the two Channelers gave it their all in their attempt to kill the other, in Benedict's case, or simply incapacitate his opponent, in Jak's situation.
Jak and Benedict each charged up another Eco Bomb and tried to make their cut through the others'. As before, they both exploded simultaneously and launched the two elves back. Jak and Benedict each regained their footing and the battle continued. Jak kicked Benedict away after wrestling for a few minutes. They battled around the top of the tower, and eventually Benedict leapt down to a walkway above the lava.
The balcony in the end came to an finish, and Benedict realized he was trapped. He looked over the balcony and into a river of lava. He sent a curved scythe of Dark Eco at Jak, but missed. It went on, not only cutting a piece of the balcony railing off but a control panel as well. Alarms sounded as a protective light blue light around the superstructure disappeared. As the light left, the heat began to rise. Jak realized Benedict had probably just destroyed something that controlled the temperature control.
Said control panel tumbled into the molten abyss, and disappeared in a puff of smoke. A small pipe connected the tower to the other one. Benedict had no choice but to tightrope-walk out across the lava river while fighting Jak. After about two minutes of this, he decided against it and leapt backwards to the tower that they had not been on yet. As they arrived, a rumbling caused them to cease fighting. The thin tower bent and twisted as the tower slowly started to sink under the lava.
Snapping and metal groans were heard as the main part of the tower broke away and moved toward a lava fall in the distance. Jak looked around and saw a small floating platform. Deciding that it was no use dying by saying on the tower, Jak did a double back-flip and landed squarely on the floating platform. He immediately turned it and aimed it back towards the ground. Benedict realized he would be doomed if he stayed on the tower heading for the falls. In the distance he spotted a platform not unlike Jak's. He made a running leap and miraculously landed on it. As Benedict hastily pursued Jak, the giant tower went over the lava flow and disappeared in a mist of sparks below.
Jak headed for the bank of the lava river, but Benedict's platform seemed to be faster. Benedict caught up with his old friend and the two of them left their controls and (quite foolishly) attempted to continue the fight. Jak saw his old student nearly fall into the lava in an attempt to blast Jak off of his platform.
"I have failed you, Benedict. I was never able to teach you to concentrate under the heat of the moment." Jak thought, and Benedict instantly heard the transmitted thought. The two of them stared at each other as their transports went whizzing over the lava river.
Benedict responded. "Gol was right. The Sages were plotting to conquer…" Jak interrupted; he didn't want Benedict to end that sentence.
"The Dark Lords! Benedict, Gol Akaron is evil." He thought, hoping Benedict might finally see what was happening.
"From your point of view. From my point of view, you and Samos are evil." Benedict countered. Jak saw that his former friend, student, and ally was no more. Samos was right; Benedict was gone, consumed by the evil entity known as Torqueo.
"You are lost!" Jak psychically screamed. Benedict glared at the elf that, in his mind, had gone out of his way to ruin Benedict's life.
"This is the end for you, old friend. I wish it were otherwise."
"Do not call me 'friend'." Jak snapped. "You proved I am not your friend during this battle, when you attempted to take my life many times. And you can never have Keira. I don't have Keira. She is her own, free to choose which man to be with. You could never understand that, consumed by hatred as you are." Jak telepathically thought as he bared his teeth.
They continued to battle away, balancing on their tiny platforms and trying to throw the other off. Benedict lost his footing and pulled Jak along with him. The two of them fell on each other and made attempts to knock each other out as they hastily got to their feet. They continued their battle, unaware that they were on a transport speeding to the land. As it crashed onshore Jak went flying off while Benedict regained his footing.
"It's over, Benedict. I have the high ground." Jak called to his adversary. Benedict merely glared at Jak.
"You underestimate my power!" Benedict proclaimed.
"Don't try it." Jak urged. Benedict ignored his former educationalist and leapt over Jak. As he landed, Jak brought his hand up and slammed them into Benedict's chest. Benedict went flying back and landed on his backside as Jak leapt up and landed on his chest, breaking more than a couple of ribs. Benedict moaned and saw a piece of rock sticking out of the ground. He grabbed it and tried to thrust it through Jak's chest. He grabbed it out of Benedict's hands and thrust it into the base of his left leg. Benedict screamed and pulled it out, succeeding in nothing but severing his leg off and having it roll into the lava. Benedict's mangled body followed it very shortly afterward.
Jak looked on in horror as one of his former best friends started screaming in agony while blood gushed from the wound at his hip. Benedict looked up at Jak from the sand he was in and Jak saw that Benedict was truly gone; the whites of his eyes were yellow and the dark brown had darkened to cold black.
Jak just backed off, staring, transfixed, at Benedict. "I loved you like you were my brother, Benedict." Jak thought.
It appeared that Benedict was still conscious, because his transformed eyes focused on Jak. "I hate you!" Benedict screamed as Jak continued to back away, unable to tear his eyes away from this hideous spectacle. Benedict's clothing blew into the lava river and ignited. Suddenly Benedict burst into flames and starts screaming. Jak looked on in horror as Benedict became engulfed in flames. Jak couldn't watch him as he struggled to climb the embankment, covered in flames. Benedict slid back down closer to the lava and closed his eyes.
"Finally. It is done. Gol's apprentice is no more. Benedict is dead." Jak thought as he picked Keira and Daxter up. Suddenly, a pain went through his heart, and he knew something was wrong. He rushed back to the Warp Gate, anxious to see how Samos had done with his battle against Gol…
Okay, time to stop. I realize it was a little cliched at the very end, but let's consider that my final shout out to George Lucas. After this chapter, you will not see any more intentional reference or influence from Star Wars. Anyway, if you have any ideas for Dark or Green Eco powers for the big showdown between the Sages, let me know. They are masters, so don't think that your power might be too advanced for them. With luck, it will be as long as this chapter was; about eighty five hundred words. And on a final note: shout outs. READ RISEN DEMON, WAR OF THE ANCIENTS, THE JAK AND DAXTER PRANK WAR, and SURGE!