To those who reviewed:
GoodMorningBeautiful2005- Do I sense a crush? Actually, Jak doesn't have any new powers or anything like that. All his training did was show him the he can fight and defeat enemies without using Eco, saving it for more difficult battles ahead. As to what I'm doing for you, I'm not doing it soon enough. And unfortunately, I have to break my promise to you. I said that you would have Chapter 11 by Sunday night. Unfortunately, I got home from my Senior Trip at 7:30ish and I might not be able to transfer it all from paper to the computer along with my Spanish project. But for the first time (I think) I will compliment my own work: I think you will be pleasantly surprised with the adventure that I turned out.
Amathist Fwirrel- Hello yourself. Nice to see you up and about, both writing and reviewing. Thanks very much for the compliment on my writing, though I feel I still have a long way to go before I am satisfied with my mediocre skill level. Yup, the action is reaching the breaking point. As for the portal, I included it for a reason, and I have my friend Ronaldo to thank for it. I had an idea that might explain Haven City (which I shall divulge to no one). In order for it to work, Gol would need a new army, so Ronaldo suggested opening a portal to a demon world. I don't know what you're referring to by protecting my identity; so if you have a question, just ask. Old-timer? I let you young whippersnapper know that I'm a mere 117. Er, 17. But people look at me and would never think I was a fighter, so I decided to transfer that quality over to my character by making him old. Face it; I wouldn't expect a 50 yr old man to be as dangerous as a few teenagers. The demons are actually based off of the Genma from Onimusha, which was an idea of Bryan's. Between him and Ronaldo, I have enough diversity to create a pretty powerful army. Foretaste is the heaven in my version of Jak's world. It's a synonym of precursor. Legatee is hell, because it is an antonym of precursor. If you have an idea for limbo (other than "limbo") please let me know. Hope you catch up on sleep, seeing as I'll be burning the midnight oil for a while to finish off the load of schoolwork I got before finals.
Silver-WindScar- Yup, I put myself in. And I'm happy to say that I'll be staying alive, as well as everyone else. If you like what I've done so far, wait until you see the Channeler tournament at the end of the book. Whoops. Wasn't supposed to tell you that. It'll be our little secret. ;). And yes, I saw your update. Great chapter: I liked it when Draco pissed himself; and everyone threatened the hat; and the embarrassment everyone seems to experience. Unfortunately, I may not be able to update for a while: my parents have now forbidden me to do anything related to fanfiction, which includes both reading and writing it. Ironically, I finally got that 80 in Spanish, which is why they increased the punishment. They think that by grounding me, I'll really improve. So, this just means I'll have to work on it on paper and type it up when they're not around. And its on hiatus anyway, at least until I finished chapter 11 of Dark Angel, which should be tonight. Now, I give you the same request- UPDATE! (Gets on hands and knees and begs.)
Red Mage 04- Too bad about your computer: fanfiction does that to me a lot too. Hey, you're only human (I hope) so its okay if you don't get every single update that I have. I miss people's all the time. Good luck on your finals, and I would kill for all A's. As such, I'm stuck with two A's, three B's, a C and the D that is Spanish. Good to know I have your character down, and as for soda, hm... Just so you know, my personal goal is to have Gol break every single rule on that List. And the funny part will be that he won't learn jack from it when he returns (slaps hand over mouth). No, I have not played either game, though I did want to throw in one final plot twist at the end, for which I needed Gol to have a new army. When my friend suggested a portal to the underworld and explained it, I thought it could work, so I decided to give it a try. And now I'm stuck with it, so I'll just have to do the best I can. As for wanting to make Jak a Demon King, Gol thinks it will be a just punishment for Jak to become the lord of the undead and order his minions to slaughter every single one of his friends. Too bad you have writers block, but it's always worth the wait for you. I hope I can write again, but unfortunately, my parents have put a stop to that.
Keeroshu- Hey, you're a busy person, I understand. Anyway, the fact that you find time eventually to review says a lot, because reviewing isn't mandatory. In retrospect, you're right: I didn't realize how long it has gotten either until I combined all the chapters onto one document and wound up with 350 pages. And the fact that you said that I kept it interesting for so long is good, because that's the trick when it comes to writing novels. Next chapter will be up in a week or two, as I have finals this week and won't have much time for writing. If I finish with an 85 average on the finals, my punishment is lifted before I graduate. If not, then, I have to wait for the end of June, so keep your fingers crossed and wish me good luck.
I own nothing, save what my overly active imagination has cooked up.
Dual Duels
Veston looked at the Shirhak general with hatred etched into his face. True, he had little love for Lurkers, save Hatu, but what this monster had done to then was sickening. Veston looked out of the corner of his eye to see if Margaret was okay. To his relief, she was getting back up.
"You cannot defeat me," the Shirhak said as it ran forward. Veston drew his sword and blocked the attack aimed at his head. The two struggled as the Shirhak tried to overwhelm Veston. The Channeler tried to hold his own, but this thing's strength was incredible. As he dropped to his knees, a large beam of energy hit the Shirhak and caused it to reel off to the side. Margaret rushed in, her hands glowing with energy. As she reached the Shirhak, she punched forward and hit the demon in the chest. A blast of energy left her hand and caused the demon to fly back. As it flew through the air, it swung its sword in a vertical line. A trail of Dark Eco left the sword and flew through the air, aimed at Margaret's chest.
Veston swung his sword and aimed a slash of Yellow Eco at the incoming attack. His blast intercepted the Shirhak's and caused it to fly off to the side. As the two scythes of Eco sank into the wall, Veston aimed another beam at the demon. Margaret ran forward and threw fireballs. As the attacks reached the Shirhak, there was a terrific explosion and a huge cloud of dust arose.
Veston coughed and looked around, trying to find a piece of the demon's body. He saw nothing, but heard a blade hissing as it cut through the air. He spun around and drew his katana, blocking the attack and sliding it off to the side. He twirled his sword, and pivoted his body to avoid cutting himself. He then thrust his katana forward, aiming for the heart of the demon. The monster deflected the attack and leaped into the air. Veston rolled to the side to avoid being blasted by a Yellow Eco beam.
"Watch it," Veston shouted across the room. Margaret looked slightly abashed, but glared at him.
"Well, you keep an eye out!" she shouted before ducking under a swipe by the Shirhak. Veston ran forward, coating his sword with Blue Eco. He ran forward and began attacking furiously, using the Blue Eco on his sword to let it travel faster. All his speed was for naught, however, as the Shirhak managed to block every single one of the attacks. Veston growled and ducked under a fierce swipe before thrusting his blade forward, only to have it go through nothing but air.
Margaret watched as Veston was picked up into the air and hurled across the room, sliding down the blood-painted wall. She gave a cry of fury and ran forward, using Red Eco to enhance her strength as well as her speed slightly. The monster blocked her attacks with the flat side of his sword, but Margaret did not relent. She continued hammering away at the sword, coating her hands with fire to try and melt it. Unfortunately, her opponent quickly caught on to her strategy and leapt away, sticking out its hand and sending a torrent of flames at her. Margaret dodged to the right and rolled as the hot flames engulfed the spot where she had just stood. The monster roared and an evil grin appeared on his face as his appearance began to waver. With a cry of pain, there was a blinding light, and when Veston and Margaret looked up, there were two demons. Each looked somewhat like the original, but neither was a perfect copy. One was small, skinny and looked weaker physically than Margaret. The other was huge, hulking, and carried an even bigger and longer broadsword than the one the original had been using.
"Holy shit! He's split himself in two," Veston said disbelievingly. Margaret backed up as the two entities seemed to try to decide which one they wanted to fight. The thinner one picked Margaret, and dashed at her with surprising speed. Margaret leapt back as it swiped at her with hands that ended in inch-long claws.
As the monster swiped at her, Margaret gathered Yellow Eco into her hands. She let it loose, not in a beam, but in small pellets. The monster was forced backwards under the barrage, but soon caught a break. As Margaret gathered her powers for a split second, it began teleporting out of the way, letting the balls of Yellow Eco get within an inch of its skin before vanishing. Margaret continued firing, even as she realized it was futile. The damned thing was too fast for her. It began walking on the walls and ceiling, darting about as she tried to aim where she thought it would reappear. As she prepared to launch multiple blasts in every direction, it appeared in front and above her, slamming its feet into her face. She cried out as her nose was broken, and leaned back. As the back of her head hit the floor, which mercifully was not so hard that she was knocked out, her feet went into the air, hitting after a second.
Margaret tried to get up, but the Shirhak stood on her before leaping off, pushing her face down a little more as it leapt. It landed on the ground on all fours and splayed out its legs. It crawled towards Margaret, who was only half-awake. As it reached her stomach, the monster took a deep sniff, as if sampling Margaret's scent. She looked down at the demon, who grinned as its red eyes widened. It plunged its fangs into her skin, and Margaret cried out as she tried to yank its mouth off of her skin. As she pulled on its face, it felt to Margaret as though the monster's fangs lengthened and began to rip her flesh out. As she grit her teeth, Margaret used both her arms and legs to get the monster off of her, at the price of a piece of her flesh. The monster spat out her skin and muscle before looking at her. It licked the flesh in its hands before slowly chewing it. If she hadn't been about to pass out from pain, Margaret would have vomited from the disgusting sight. As it was, she only tried to get her hands to her Green Eco Box, knowing that if she did, she could undo the damage this foul beast had caused her. As her hand twitched and moved, the monster saw it and lunged for her again, its hell-fire eyes glowing sadistically…
Veston saw the demon leap at Margaret as she tried to heal herself and send a blast of Yellow Eco at the Shirhak. The energy attack hit dead on, and the demon was hurled off to the side as Margaret healed herself and watched the flesh that had been ripped out return. She gave a grateful look to Veston- all that she could spare- and got up, her body surrounded by a Yellow aura. Veston turned around and saw his foe running at him, its arms brought back, ready to strike at the supposed unsuspecting Channeler.
Veston leapt out of the way as the bigger demon came his way, swinging its sword and bellowing incoherently. In addition to the ten-foot sword, the demon also came packed with a ton- literally- of armor, making Veston doubt that he would be able to defeat this horrible creature.
Veston quickly incorporated some Red Eco into himself in a hope that it would let him match his foe in strength as it picked up its sword and bellowed something incoherent at him. Fortunately, as it did so, the demon spread its arms and exposed its chest. This gave Veston all the time in the world to wave his sword and send a few streams of Red Eco at his opponent to get the event started.
Not surprisingly, the Eco hit the armor and dissipated, showing no damage whatsoever and failed to make the Shirhak even stagger back an inch. In response, said Shirhak let out a mighty battle cry, and, despite the weight of his sword and armor, leapt at Veston. Veston rolled out of the way as the huge weapon came crashing down, actually sinking into the ground until it was pointing at the heart of the mountain. The demon leapt into the air, pulling out his sword and ran at Veston, who leapt over a horizontal strike by flipping over the Shirhak and coming down on the opposite side. As he landed, he realized that the Shirhak had continued spinning, using his centrifugal force to keep moving as it tried to cut Veston in half. As he landed, Veston pulled his feet up to avoid losing them and immediately locked his feet into a defensive stance. Then, with his strength enhanced by the Eco that he had absorbed, he blocked the strike, an unearthly clang filling the room as the two sword met. For some moments, the elf and the Shirhak grunted and heaved, each trying to gain the advantage over the other as their weapons grated harshly back and forth against one another, creating sparks that filled the air.
Finally, Veston broke the blade lock, and quickly ducked underneath his opponent's strike as it sliced through naught but air overhead. At the same time, he took advantage of the lethargy created by such a large, heavy and clumsy weapon to quickly get a few strikes in on enemy. The Shirhak's armor was well made, however, and it held up to the assault, with only a couple of grooves to show for Veston's mighty strength with a sword that was capable of shearing through rock when used properly. However, he was prepared for such an event, and quickly back flipped as the massive Legatee-forged blade came back in, sailing neatly over it, while using his powers to send streams of fire and Red Eco after hitting the armor. As before, it did little, if any, damage to the massive demon, aside from making it even angrier. For the first time in his life, Veston found himself wishing that there were Lurkers around- they were easier to kill.
Once more, the Shirhak leapt as it let out a mighty roar that shook the walls of the underground room. The demon cocked its weapon behind its head before bringing it down with enough force that it might have hacked through even Precursor armor. However, with a deft roll, Veston was out of harm's way, smirking as the room rattled once more.
He charged back into the fray as the demon readied its weapon, brining his katana in from the side to strike against the ribcage of his foe. The weapon bounced off with little success, and the Channeler was forced to duck a vicious swipe made by a hand with claws that would easily have decapitated him had it connected. As it was, it gave him the perfect opportunity to end the fight. Veston had noticed that Shirhak tended to disappear as soon as their skin was pierced. He jabbed him blade upwards into the armpit where armor never covered. Veston felt his blade go through skin and continued pushing until his sword pushed out of the monsters shoulder. He continued to push, sending his weapon through the right jawbone and out through the left temple. As the Shirhak wailed in pain, Veston withdrew his sword and swiped it, getting the blood off and wiping off the bits of muscle.
Veston sheathed his sword and walked away, planning to help Margaret with her demon, who he saw was being kept at bay now. Relieved that she had healed, Veston sped up his pace, but stopped when a badly aimed scythe of Dark Eco went whizzing by, slicing his cheek and leaving a scar there. Veston turned around to see his Shirhak standing, its wounds healed and its right hand glowing with purple electricity. Veston send a blast or Red Eco at it, hitting it right between the eyes.
The Shirhak took the blow stoically while a rampage with his massive weapon a moment or two later let Veston know that the lethal wounds he had inflicted not but ten seconds ago were nothing more at this point.
Deciding that the time had come to change tactics, Veston jumped backward and activated his Blue Eco Box while shutting off his Red Eco Box. Instantly, his movement speed increased, and he began deflecting the Shirhak's attack. By the time the monster had began a new attack, Veston had been able to inflict a score or so of his own. As the fight continued, Veston knew that however speedy he might be, he needed to draw some blood and kill his freak if he wanted to come out of this confrontation alive. He could not keep this dodging up forever, and already the Shirhak was adapting to this new style, dodging as it collected itself and attacked once more. Veston began using his speed a different way, running around the demon rather than attacking it. This had the slightly humorous effect of making the Shirhak spin around, trying to keep the Channeler within it sight. A blow came in, aimed at the back of the Shirhak's neck. As soon as the attack had cut through the armor, Veston yanked his sword back so he wouldn't be killed, and inflicted another wound along the back of the creature's leg, right where the back of his right kneecap was. A second later, the other leg was cut, followed by the inside of the demon's elbows. As the Shirhak raised its sword, Veston mimicked his move from before piercing the armpit and skull of the monster on both sides. As the demon fell, Veston picked it up using his Blue Eco power and hurled it into a wall. As he rushed in, he turned his Red Eco Box again and delivered a jumping spinning back kick to the demon's chest, his foot going through the armor and crushing the Shirhak's ribs.
Wounded and disoriented it might be, but the Shirhak was still dangerous, and gripped its colossal blade as tightly as it could. It leapt off the wall, its skin healing but its armor permanently damaged. As it got far enough away, the Shirhak once again began to spin around, hoping that with the nearly twenty-foot diameter of his spin, this annoying elf might find himself within that range, and be taken care of. What it got instead was a small barrage of Yellow Eco pellets as Veston leapt back.
Snarling in rage, the Shirhak stopped its attack and turned to face its opponent. It charged the ruler of Spargus, heedless of the potential consequences of such a foolish action. As it brought his massive weapon in from the right side, swinging it upwards in hopes of splitting his foe in half, Veston back-flipped away from the attack and assimilated some Yellow Eco. As the demon stopped its attack and ran forward, Veston turned his body to the side and extended his left hand. The demon's eyes widened as it realized what Veston was able to do. What made it all the sweeter to the Channeler was that when one coupled the size and weight of the sword preventing the Shirhak from dodging with the fact that its armor was severely damaged and had fallen off in some places, one quickly realized that the fight was about to end.
Pain exploded in the Shirhak's small mind as the beam hit, blowing it backwards and causing it to lose its grip upon his weapon. One looked revealed that it was dying. The blast had caught it dead on, and had actually turned its armor against it, as it had actually melted under the fury of the attack, and was now attached to his chest. As the Shirhak hit the ground, stuck in its melted armor, Veston drew his katana.
"Game over," he said as he decapitated his opponent. As the body faded away, Veston looked over to see how Margaret was doing. What he saw stole away the warmth of his blood…
Andrew, Tiffany and Liz walked down the streets of Wasteland Metropolis until they came to Potentia's hut. They took a deep breath as a group and charged in. Andrew had his body covered in Blue Eco, Tiffany had surrounded her hands in Yellow Eco o use as a beam, and Liz's body crackled with Red Eco electricity and fire. As they entered combat stances and looked around the hut, they realized something that they hadn't counted on.
The hut was empty.
Feeling like fools, the Channelers turned off their Eco Belts and looked around the hut to be certain the Yellow Eco Sage wasn't in the house before pouring through his notes, trying to find a clue as to where he might be.
"Found something!" Tiffany shouted after half an hour of looking.
"What is it?"
"Where is he?" Andrew and Liz asked at the same time.
"Gale Canyon. Apparently, there's a pool of Dark Eco there and he went to go oversee the excavation. He left three days ago, but this tells me exactly where he went. If we hurry on my horses, then we could find him in an hour or two." The group left the hut and got on the horses again. As before, Tiffany made them fly up into the air and they whooped and hollered with glee as they rose above the clouds.
"Work faster!" Potentia snarled as he fingered his gun, itching to blast the Shirhak into oblivion. As the demons growled at him, Potentia allowed his aura to flare so that it covered the area, which quickly galled the Shirhak back into obedience.
"Hey redneck," Andrew called from behind. The Sage's reflexes and aim were startling, as he flipped his gun around so it was pointing behind him and pulled the trigger. A beam of Yellow Eco shot out, and Andrew dodged to the left, amazed at the Sage's aim.
"So, y'all though you'd come on out an' challenge me face to face, eh?" Potentia asked in his heavy accent as he turned around and leveled his gun at them. The group did not respond, opting instead to send a barrage of attacks at him. As the beams and electricity flowed towards him, Potentia caught the attack sin his rifle before pointing it at Andrew, who had rushed in. The Storage Channeler leapt out of the way and began running on the canyon wall as Potentia sent blast after blast of Yellow Eco at him, trying to bring him down.
As Potentia gathered up his power to let a large last fly, he was hit in the back by a boot. He spun around and saw no one, but looked up to see Liz balancing on the barrel strapped to his back. He snarled and leaned forward, causing the Channeler to lose balance and fall off. Just as Potentia was about to hit the ground, he sent a small burst of energy out of his body, just enough to push him back up and let him get his footing again.
Andrew rushed forward to try to take out the Yellow Sage, but had to abandon his plan when a barrage of Yellow Eco pellets came his way. As he dodged to the right, he once again ran up the wall, shooting blasts of his own back at Potentia. Tiffany saw the Sage distracted and let loose a beam of concentrated Red Eco. As the attack neared him, an orb of Yellow Eco surrounded the Sage. The orb concentrated where the attack was coming from and shot a beam out, piercing Tiffany's and sending her back into the wall.
Liz picked herself up off the ground and activated her Yellow Eco Box. As she formed the Eco into a sword, she dashed forward as she shot a beam of Yellow Eco at the Sage. It hit the barrel, which began to glow. Liz smiled to herself, thinking she had perhaps damaged the apparatus, but frowned when she realized the barrel connected to the gun had merely absorbed the attack. She ran forward and swung at the barrel, only to find that her sword had been absorbed as well. She summoned another sword and aimed this time for the Sage's chest, aiming right where his gut would be. Hopefully she would not hit anything vital, as killing the Sage was the last thing Liz wanted to do.
Potentia had seen the attack coming and dodged, pulling his Yellow Eco Saber off his belt and spinning around to meet the attack. Eco Blade met Eco Saber as Potentia and Liz began a fierce- if amateur- sword fight. Neither was used to wielding a weapon that, though capable of shearing through skin, bone, and rock easily, weighed next to nothing. As they locked blades, Andrew rushed in, trying to finish the fight by knocking the Sage out. He was dismayed however, when a well placed Eco blast caused him to fly off his feet and go crashing back into a wall. The same happened to Tiffany when she fired a beam of Yellow Eco at the duo. Liz took the opportunity to run at Potentia and jumped up, kicking him in the chest with both her feet.
Potentia staggered back from the hit and aimed his rifle up into the sky. He fired off a large ball of energy that hovered in midair. Andrew ran forward, his body ablaze, but let out a gasp of pain as Potentia jabbed the butt of his gun into his stomach. The Sage quickly reversed the weapon and then put his hand on the stunned Channeler's stomach while firing rounds at Liz and Tiffany. The two girls dodged and Andrew was blasted backwards as a ball of energy appeared and then dispersed in Potentia's hand.
Tiffany and Liz got up and ran at the Sage, only to hastily put up an Eco Shield as the orb above them exploded and rained down pellets at them. Potentia lifted his empty hand and small glowing orbs about the size of marbles appeared. He leveled them at Liz and they flew towards her, expanding in size. Liz summoned another Yellow Eco Blade and deflected them, some of them traveling back to Potentia, who gathered up a score of them before sending a few at each of the Channelers.
Andrew jumped over his and then ran forward, trying to get closer to Potentia and take away his devastating long range weapons. Potentia jammed his gun into the ground and fired off a few rounds. Everyone stayed still, not knowing what to make of this, before being blasted off their feet as the shots came up from below.
"Y'all didn't honestly y'all could really beat me, did ya?" the Sage asked in his distorted voice as he broke the blade lock with Liz and mounted his gun on the barrel strapped to his back. He looked at Andrew and Tiffany, close to each other as they picked themselves up, and blasted the canyon wall above the two Channelers. A small avalanche came tumbling down on the two, and Potential smirked when he heard Liz cry out in horror. "Aw. What's the matter? Were they your friends er something'?" he smirked as Liz sank to her knees. He stepped back as the canyon floor began to vibrate. Liz looked up, fury and rage swirling in her eyes.
"You'll pay for that!" she screamed as she dashed forward.
Veston watched in horror as the demon stuck its hand through Margaret's chest, going so hard and fast that its hand erupted from the back. As Margaret's body hit the ground, Veston ran, almost teleporting as he grabbed her body. He erected a Green Eco shield and began pumping Green Eco into her, not caring that he was using up all that he had. He looked down and saw her glassy eyes unchanged, so he turned on her Green Eco Box as well. As the restorative powers roved over her bruised and battered body, Margaret started to become more aware of her pain.
Veston nearly cried with relief as he heard and saw Margaret gasp with pain. He held her face to his chest, choking back sobs. After he finished healing the gaping wound in her chest, Veston let her go at a very painful punch.
"I need to breathe," Margaret said as she removed her coughing face from his chest. Veston smiled sheepishly as she smiled at him and the two forgot about the demon clawing at the shield in an attempt to bring it down, so relieved they were at the other's well-being.
A roar of frustration brought them back to reality, and Veston brought his shield down before blasting the demon back with a well-placed fireball. The Shirhak, however, was capable of taking damage as well as dishing it out, however, and quickly rushed back in. As it raised its arm to do such a thing to the elf that had taken its prey from it, its face was caved in as Margaret leapt forward with a snarl, punching it directly in the face.
The Shirhak staggered back and began to glow with a purple light. It threw out its hands and sent blasts of Dark Eco at the duo. Veston and Margaret dodged different ways, letting the acidic Eco hit the ground and eat part of it away.
Veston dashed forward, his blade hissing through the air as he hit the demon time after time. Unfortunately, said Shirhak had conjured up a Dark Eco Blade from nowhere, and was proving to be very skilled with a blade. And unfortunately for Veston, such a weightless weapon could block and attack with barely any time in between.
Margaret watched her savior battle the Shirhak, the two weapons impacting each other again and again, only to break contact and come in again. Margaret gathered up her remaining Yellow Eco and began firing small blasts at the duo. She had been watching carefully, and almost always managed to hit the Shirhak, never really hurting it, but causing it damage and distracting it all the same.
Veston took advantage of the opportunity when his opponent foolishly turned to snarl at Margaret and swiftly decapitated his opponent. As the body hit the floor and melted away, he sheathed his sword and walked over to Margaret.
"Nice teamwork, eh?" he asked with a smile. Margaret smiled, though her face was drawn and tired, and gave him a high five. They turned around and saw the Dark Eco Crystal, the reason they were there. Veston drew his blade and coated it with Yellow Eco. Margaret put her hands on his and added Red Eco to it, giving his blade the power he needed to destroy the vile thing.
As the pieces of the Dark Eco Crystal hit the ground and eroded away to dust, Veston and Margaret began to look for another way out. They were not going to go upstairs and go through the disgusting room once again. Veston saw a small indentation in the wall and pressed it. A hidden door opened up and he and Margaret walked through, using Red Eco conjured fire to light the way. As the went on, the noticed that it seemed to spiral downward. At the end was a large gate that had light streaming in. The two pushed on the door, and then, when that failed, simply blew it apart. They shielded their eyes against the bright light and saw that they were in Flurry Conurbation once more. They turned around as the door closed and saw that it looked just like part of the mountain.
"Alecis is never going to believe this," Margaret said as they walked back to the Sage's hut, and Veston agreed whole-heartedly. Now they needed to find a way to stay in the town without being detected by Gol until Jak could defeat Tarea and let them into Pampas Islet.
Potentia shot a beam of Yellow Eco at the charging Channeler. All it did was slightly slow Liz down, however, as she simply put her shoulder forward and took the brunt of the attack. She neared the Sage and tackled him before sitting on his chest and landing blow after blow on his face. Dazed and disoriented, the Sage took a minute to gather his powers again. When he did however, Liz found herself traveling up into the sky about a hundred feet or so. As her ascent slowed and her descent began, she prepared for the end, knowing she wouldn't survive the impact. At the last second, something soft and hairy appeared underneath her and saved her from becoming a splat on the ground.
Liz looked down and saw Harry, his black coat shining in the sun. As it touched down and let her off, she stroked its neck in thanks before turning back to the problem at hand. She glared at the Sage, trying to discover the location of the mind-control device that should be mounted somewhere on his back. When she had balanced on his barrel before, she had been examining the gap between the barrel and his skin, but to her surprise and dismay, the machinery had been nowhere to be found.
Liz dodged to the right as a beam of energy came sailing her way and saw Andrew and Tiffany emerge from behind the stage. Thinking that this could be the break they had been looking for, she stood still, with her arms open in a "come and get me," stance. Potentia growled in annoyance and fired a massive beam that she could not hope to dodge. Liz focused her powers and unleashed an attack of her own. As the Red and Yellow Ecos clashed, Andrew and Tiffany gathered their powers from behind the Sage and fired them off.
Potentia realized the gravity of his error and winced as he was blasted off his feet and went sailing forward. To add to his pain, the beam that Liz had been firing to counter his hit him in the chest, causing him to fly into a wall and slide down, injured and angry.
"Y'all think you've won? No way now, this is jus' the beginnin'," he said as he took something out of a pouch on his belt.
Andrew and Tiffany watched with a mixture of trepidation and curiosity as Potentia drew a cylindrical object out of the pouch. It looked like a large glowing topaz in the shape of a small cylinder about three inches in length and to inches in circumference. What made it unique was the way it ended and began. It ended like a cone, so that the end was a sharp point, and the origin of the jewel was encased in Precursor metal. Tiffany and Andrew watched as Potentia fiddled with his gun. Both knew, somehow, that whatever he was doing was to his advantage, no theirs, but both were stuck to the ground, wanting to see what would happen despite their instincts screaming at them to move. Said instincts were joined by Liz a moment later.
"Its an Eco Crystal! Don't let him put it in his gun!" she screamed as she launched Blue Eco Lightning at the Sage. Andrew and Tiffany rushed forward, trying to get to Potentia before it was too late, but alas, it was not meant to be. Potentia found the niche he was looking for and slammed the Crystal in. Immediately, he began laughing hysterically as his gun became liquid Yellow Eco. The Eco covered his hands and then solidified to show two nasty looking contraptions. One was a smaller gun with six long tubes. The other was a wider cannon about the size of Potentia's barrel.
As Potentia leveled his left hand at Liz, a stream of Eco left the gun, spreading out to cover a range of roughly ten square feet. Liz jumped in the air and shielded her chest and face with her hands as she threw scythes of Red and Blue Ecos at him. Potentia simply raised his right arm and a large blast left the gun, overwhelming the attacks and pushing Liz back in the air where she fell to the ground. Tiffany dusked under another blast and Andrew summoned a Green Eco shield to protect from the barrage of Eco. His veins began to bulge in his head as he struggled to keep the shield up under such an intense attack.
Liz saw the trouble her friends were in and slammed her fist into the ground. Streams of Eco left her hand and traveled up to Potentia, who was oblivious to the incoming attack. As the Yellow Eco reached him, Liz concentrated and the small puddle of Eco became bolts of Eco electricity. They hit the barrel and Potentia immediately began shaking said apparatus strapped to his back. A sudden thought occurred to Liz, who suddenly realized where the mind control device was located.
"The mind control device! It inside the barrel!" she called to the two remaining Channelers. Andrew and Tiffany looked at each other before running in different directions, trying to split Potentia's attention. Regrettably, now that he had two guns, the Yellow Eco Sage was well up to the task of firing at both of them with surprising, and deadly, accuracy.
Andrew circled the Sage, running and jumping to avoid being hit by the large blasts being sent out by Potentia's right hand. He began launching attacks of his own, levitating rocks and such with the help of Blue Eco and hurling them at the Sage. All his efforts did, however, was supply Potentia with debris to him with. As he continued running, Andrew began to tire from the long battle, and was finally hit with a blast. As he went flying back, he saw Tiffany launch a Red Eco beam at Potentia. Even as he smiled at the attack, he knew deep down that Potentia would see it coming and avoid it. He struggled to his feet and charged the Sage, not caring if he died so long as the Sage was freed from Gol's insidious control.
As it turned out, Andrew did not need to sacrifice his life, something for which he was profoundly grateful. Liz had come to the conclusion at the same time, and dashed forward, sending Blue Lightning across the canyon. As the Eco impacted, Potentia's limbs and muscles were frozen, and a large crater was the result of his barrel exploding under Tiffany's attack.
Walls crumbled, the floor cracked, and the Shirhak were blasted back to the abyss that thy had been spawned from as the barrel detonated. When it was over, Potentia was rising, his eyes their normal topaz.
"Well shucks. First a boy an' his muskrat, an' now a bunch o' kids," he said in his hillbilly accent. Everyone grinned despite their injuries, glad the Sage was back to normal. Liz pulled out a pair of the contacts she had made for the victory as Andrew and Tiffany explained the situation.
"Well then, y'all are gonna need to get ta The City O' Sky," he said an hour later. "Ol' Samos is thar, and he's gonna have a plan as to how we get outta this mess."
"Which way is it?" Andrew asked, as his geographic knowledge did not extend this far north.
"Out wes'," Potentia answered, pointing in the direction. "When I git back home, I'm gonna send two boys I know ta help y'all out. One's Ferrid and the other's Harrison. Both're Channelers, an' they'll be happy ter help ya out."
"Thanks," Tiffany said as she mounted her steed.
"Wait! Take this an' give it to the boy," Potnetia said as he handed the Yellow Eco Crystal over.
"Okay, but why?" Andrew asked as he took it.
"Samos said he'd need it, and when we were freed to give it to him. Zeorro an' Santar probably gave him theirs when y'all weren' lookin'. Oh, an' one more thin': I woundn' fight Samos till ya link up with the others. He stronger than us, an' I suppose you should leave him to that boy and his kid."
"We'll do that," Liz called as they took off, heading for the floating city…
Meanwhile, Jak and Keira were preparing to confront Tarea, the fifth Sage that they needed to free before heading to The City of the Sky…
Hey everyone. I hope you have had good lives while I was away. Sorry it's been so long since I updated: end of the year exams, sickness, and only being able to use the computer when my mother isn't put me in a bind. Not to mention the fact that I put this on hold until I had fulfilled my promise to GoodMorningBeautiful2005. Hope this chapter was all right, since I did it all in one day, and I'm sorry I updated so late at night: we had some weird weather here and the internet was too shaky for me to update. That being said, I hope to update again Sunday, and now that I'm off I might just be able to start updating twice a week, but don't hold your breath. Anyway, I wish you all a merry May, and its good to be back. And once again, I apologize for being so late in my updating.
I owuld like to ask for some help. The next chapter is going to be just one fight: Jak and Keira vs. Tarea. I owuld greatly appreciate any Precursor technology that anyone could think of. It would be a tremendous help to me. Thanks you for helping me out.
Quote of the week- Me
Me: Rule #15 of Life: Prejudice rarely shows reason, and bigots are certain of their opinions, which are based on little or no objective fact.