To those who reviewed:
GoodMorningBeautiful2005- Well, I just hope it's not Kliever. Thanks for the compliment- I was a bit nervous I had gotten rusty. And I'll guess the person eventually; there are only so many people. Oh, do you have any ideas for Precursor Technology that Tarea can use against Jak? I'd like a couple of ideas from other people, as I can't think of anything else. Thanks. Hey, update Dark Angel. I want to see how it turns out.
Silver-WindScar- Yes. BAM! Thanks for the compliment on the chapter, as I was afraid I might be rusty after a month of silence. Still, felt good to get back. As to your bad luck, ow, ow, and that sucks. As to your mystery student, I haven't the foggiest. It's a man who wields different magics, the most obvious of which are fire, ice, and healing, and carried a half golden sword. Unless it's someone from Golden Sun, I don't know. Don't hurt your throat screaming at me. And I have an idea for you, if you know the game. Golden Sun revolves around Alchemy, just like FullMetal Alchemist. Maybe you could write a crossover. Hopefully I'll update by Sunday, but probably not. Next week I'll update twice, you can count on it. By the way, I need a bit of a favor. The next chapter is going to be Jak vs Tarea: the Expert of Precursor Technology. I've thought up a few gadgets for her, but I'd like a few more, and I'd really appreciate it if you thought of even one and told it to me. If you can't, oh well, but thanks a bunch if you can.
Orange lightning rox- Thanks for the compliment. Oh, and by the way, nice name. For the record though, if you think I'm even halfway decent, then you have to check out the people who review: they are much better. Especially Red Mage 04's novels: Risen Demon and War of the Ancients. Read Risen Demon first though. And Silver-WindScar came up with great ideas for Jak and Inuyasha, while Keeroshu has written a story about a girl who is sucked into the Jak II game. I'll be honest, most of them suck, but hers is pretty good. Animedragongirl came up with some hilarious pranks in The Jak and Daxter Prank War, and GoodMorningBeautiful2005 has a bunch of good stuff. Since you're new, just click on my name on the upper left hand corner of the page and go to my profile. At the bottom, click on Favorite Authors and Favorite Stories and read them. Then you'll have a realistic idea of how mediocre I really am.
Keeroshu- Well, glad that I can still write good enough to shock some people. And I agree, if I was fighting something, and it split in two and came after me, I'd be like, "screw this!" and just run away. Yeah, Margaret hasn't had it easy. First nearly dying by Klaww, then being levitated over a pool of Dark Eco by Zeorro, then having flesh ripped out... She needs a vacation. But don't worry- I don't plan on killing any Channelers, both the ones that are here and the ones that have yet to arrive, off. I need them for the assault on Gol's Citadel and the big tournament afterwards. And hey, if it takes you a day or a month to review, it's all the same. At least you take the valuable time out of your life to both read and review. And I'm glad you did. Like I said, the next chapter is going to be just a big fight between Jak and Keira and Tarea, the Expert on Precursor Technology. I'm halfway done with it, but its going to be short unless I get some more gadgets for the Sage to use. Red Mage told me to add in a gun, and I thought of a good way to do that, as well as a melee weapon. Both are obvious, yet I couldn't think of them. Do you have any ideas? If you do, I'd be grateful if you told me, and I could really use them before tomorrow night. Sorry for the late notice. Thanks again for reviewing.
Disclaimer- I own nothing, save what my insane shattered mind has cooked up.
Mechanical Mêlées
Jak and Keira finally climbed the hill and looked down at Pampas Islet. There resided Tarea, the fifth Sage that Gol had imprisoned and forced to serve him. Once freed, she would no doubt be of great help in defeating Gol and sealing the Necromancy Portal. Jak and Keira looked around for Tarea, taking care not to be spotted so they wouldn't lose the vital element of surprise.
As they began to descend the hill, Jak felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up, as though they were being followed. He turned around, but saw nothing. He exchanged a glance with Keira, who doubtlessly had also felt the change in the atmosphere. Slowly, the two made their way down more cautiously. Still, the feeling persisted. As they reached the outskirts of the town, the feeling rose until they both felt their sixth senses practically screaming at them to get away from danger. But for the life of them, neither elf could figure out what was wrong, and so all their senses did was make them highly nervous.
"You should listen to those senses of yours," a voice slightly distorted said as the Sage appeared behind them. Jak spun around and leapt forward, but stopped when the Sage simply vanished into thin air. He looked around before pulling his goggles down over his eyes and switching them to an infrared mode, thinking perhaps that the Sage had left behind a heat trail that he and Keira could follow. To his surprise, he saw the silhouette of the Sage standing in the same spot and gasped in surprise as he felt a thin cord suddenly wrap itself around his body, binding his arms and legs and causing him to fall over. Keira looked around before bringing her own goggles down over her eye and seeing the same thing. In an instant, he bow was drawn and she aimed the tip of the arrow at the Sage, who turned off her cloaking device. "Oh why not. I could use some fun," Tarea said as she drew an odd piece of Precursor technology from her back and leveling it at Keira's body. Keira looked at the odd device: it looked somewhat like the contraption Potentia had been carrying in Gol's Citadel, but without the barrel.
The device was about three feet long and six inches across. It had a wide firing end (about seven inches) and what looked like an aiming scope on the top. It looked very heavy and that theory was supported by the fact that Tarea was holding it with both hands. It had eight buttons in total: four on one side and four on the other. The four were in a square pattern, and were different colors: red, yellow, blue, and purple. The other four were in a straight line. The top one had three dots evenly spaced, the upper middle one had a lot of dots evenly spaced, the lower middle one had a bunch of dots placed haphazardly, and the bottom one had a large dot. Tarea raised her contraption to Keira's head and pulled the trigger. The barrel glowed blue before a streak of Blue Eco left the gun and streaked at Keira, who dodged to the right just in time.
Tarea leaned with Keira and fired again, leaving a small patch of burnt grass where the she-elf had been. Keira tripped and fell on the grass and saw the Sage push a button on her contraption. "Let's see how you like it when this gun fires Dark Eco!" she said as she pressed the purple button. Keira's eyes went wide as the gun glowed purple before shooting out a spurt of Dark Eco. As it got closer, a beam of Yellow Eco caught it and both blasts went off in different directions. Both women looked over at Jak, who was still struggling with his bonds, but was smirking. Keira suddenly remembered: she had installed a small unit of Yellow Eco in Jak's goggles in case he ever ran out of Eco and needed one last blast.
"Thanks Jak!" Keira called as she pulled out her bow and arrow. Jak nodded before going back to struggling, not watching the fight any longer now that he was unable it influence it at all. As he wriggled around, Keira fired a Yellow Eco tipped arrow at Tarea, who blocked it with her gun. Fortunately for Keira, the mechanic had made the arrows to explode on contact like the Red Eco arrows, so the Sage was thrown back from the blast. As Keira aimed another arrow, Tarea switched her weapon to firing Yellow Eco before she pushed the switch with many dots in a straight line. She pulled the trigger and held it down. The gun glowed again before letting loose a stream of Yellow Eco pellets. Keira dived out of the way as she fired another arrow. The arrow was destroyed before it got to the Sage, but it proved as a good distraction as Keira continued to leap and run out of the way.
Jak watched as Keira continued to dodge out of the way, hating himself for being of no help. He continued to struggle before an idea came to him. He leaned to his right before going over to his left. He continued building momentum until he started rolling towards Tarea. He bumped into the Sage and caught her off balance, causing her to fall over. The Sage snarled at the Channeler and pushed the button with a giant dot on it as she leveled it at Jak. Jak's eyes grew wide as he saw a massive burst of energy build up in the gun. Fortunately, Keira saw what was happening and fired another arrow, causing Tarea to hit the ground some feet to the right of Jak.
Tarea pushed the only button she hadn't used after firing a large blast at Keira and knelt down, keeping her gun in Keira's general direction. She squeezed the trigger after pushing the red button and a large number of Red Eco shots burst forth, covering an area too large for Keira to dodge. Keira tucked her chin to her chest and closed her eyes as she brought her forearms up to block the damage. Fortunately, the blasts weren't very strong, but there were enough of them to burn her skin and cause her to cry out. Keira's body fell over from the attack, and she looked up over the steam rising off her body at the Sage, who was preparing to finish her off with a large Dark Eco cannon blast.
A cry of pain split the air as the gun loaded, but surprisingly, it wasn't from Keira. Keira opened her eyes to see Daxter lying next to her, his skin burned off and his body smoking. He smiled weakly at her.
"Hey. Keir…" he said weakly as he gasped for breath. "You owe me a kiss," he said as his eyes closed. Tears welled up in Keira's eyes as she realized Daxter had sacrificed himself for her. She crawled over to the small rat and picked him up, noticing how frail he really was. Keira sobbed as she held her friend close to her heart as she felt his heart beat. Visions rushed through her head: Daxter being kicked in the head by an angry Yakow; her father smacking the former elf with his staff, numerous times; Jak and Daxter dancing together at a beach party; Daxter and Jak chicken fighting against Bryan and Mike. She remembered the good times and the bad as the small life form in her arms breathed deeply. His heart beat began to slow down slightly, and Keira laid him down as she tried to think of something to say. Time had stopped for her, and she had even forgotten about the demented Sage behind her. A small explosion awoke her to the battle behind her, and Keira turned around to see Jak, finally free, fighting furiously with Tarea, who was attempting to punch a hole in Jak's chest the size of a watermelon.
Jak danced to and fro, avoiding blasts and sending his own at the Sage, fur in his eyes. True, Daxter didn't have to sacrifice himself for Keira, but the fact remained that the Sage had killed him. Jak remembered all the times with Daxter, but put his emotions and grief aside for the moment: if he didn't, none of them would live to be able to grieve. He thought of something and took off his Eco Belt, throwing it to Keira. It landed by her and she realized what Jak wanted her to do.
As Keira put the Green Eco Box on Daxter and pushed the button, she watched and prayed that their plan would work. Slowly, the fur grew back as the black skin turned a pale pink. Daxter's brown eyes opened in shock as he regained consciousness.
"Daxter!" Keira squealed as she picked him up and crushed his body into her chest, squeezing the life out of him in joy that he was alive.
"Keira!" Daxter choked out through her shirt.
"Oh, you're alive. I'm so happy for you!"
"Can't breathe!" Daxter gasped and Keira let go of him.
"Sorry. I was just so excited to see you alive."
"You're not the only one. I thought I was dead," Daxter said, looking down at himself. He saw the Green Eco Box on the ground and put two and two together. "You guys… saved me?" he asked, his voice full of emotion.
"Of course. We can't let you just die. Who else would hit on me while flirting with other girls?" Keira said with a watery chuckle. Daxter grinned cheekily at his friend, whom he realized truly loved him. Not in the same way she loved Jak, but in a sisterly love. He wriggled out of her grip and looked at the battle, where Jak leapt over a large blast of Dark Eco only to be hit by a spray of Yellow Eco.
"Let's go kick some ass!" he shouted as Keira picked up her bow.
"Yeah," she responded with a smile before taking aim. As Jak dodged to the right, Keira fired her arrow at the Sage. Tarea saw it coming and blocked it with her gun before tying Keira up in a net identical to the one she had used on Jak.
"Well well, it looks like your girlfriend should learn not to stick her ugly face in other people's business," she leered at Jak, who ran in. Tarea fired a large blast of Red Eco, and Jak brought his forearm armor up, deflecting the Eco right back to where it had come from. As the Eco went zipping back, it entered the barrel of the gun and short circuited the machinery. Jak took advantage of the Sage's cursing and fumbling to get his Eco Belt before strapping it on and untying Keira and Daxter, the latter of whom scrambled back onto Jak's shoulder.
Jak went to Keira and pointed at the Sage's hut and then Keira. She shook her head but he grabbed her shoulders roughly and pulled her close. He hugged her before letting go and pointing at the hut again. He made a flicking motion with his finger and Keira understood: Jak wanted her to turn on the Warp Gate and let Richard and Meredith through. She nodded and took off running, Jak firing Yellow Eco blasts after her to ensure that Tarea would not hit her with a parting blast.
"So, just me and you then?" the Sage asked as she leveled her gun at Jak. She fired a large blast of Dark Eco at Jak, who quickly conjured up an Eco Blade and deflected it back into the gun again. As the gun sent sparks everywhere, Jak fired a spear of Yellow Eco into it and caused the gun to overload and explode. Tarea threw it down on the ground and drew two Eco Sabers, holding them in her hands, which were encased in gauntlets made out of Precursor metal. Jak backed off, and the two circled around each other, one armed with a Yellow Eco Blade, the other with twin Dark Eco Sabers.
Jak watched Tarea tense up and he leapt at the same time as the Sage. Jak blocked an incoming strike as Tarea spun around and attacked with her back turned. Jak tried to end the fight with a blow to the head but Tarea must have known it was coming, as another dark Saber intercepted Jak's strike. Tarea crossed her arms as she lashed out yet again at Jak and was surprised at the speed with which Jak blocked and countered. Jak ducked and back flipped as Tarea spun around and made a double strike at the same time. Jak dodged and then ran in with an overhead chop and the two of them mêléed for a while, Tarea swinging her Sabers and Jak swinging his Eco Blade 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 Tarea's Sabers with one strike and a slash, but the Sage simply jumped over Jak with a flip and some twirls. Benedict landed in a combat stance and ran in, holding one of her Sabers knife-style. She charged and attempted to sheer Jak in half with the Saber farther away from Jak, but did not succeed. As she ran past Jak she swung the Saber that was closer backwards and glared at nothing in particular when she felt it stop. She 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.
Tarea stopped her assault as she watched Jak back off and deactivated one of her Sabers. She held both in one of her hands and punched with the other one. A blast of Yellow Eco crackled through the air and hit and unsuspecting Jak right in the middle of his chest. Jak went flying back as the attack hit him and stared at Tarea in shock he avoided another beam. As Jak heard a crunching sound behind him, he turned around and saw a rock that had been behind him with a crater in it.
Tarea turned both her Sabers back on and rushed in with another double strike. Jak jumped over Tarea, who followed Jak with her eye and rushed in. Jak did a split in the air to keep his legs and brought his legs together, kicking Tarea in the chest before landing. As she stepped back, Jak rushed in and coated his hands in Yellow Eco. Tarea brought her arms away from her chest and prepared to strike, but Jak was too fast. He slammed both his hands into her chest before firing weak beams of Yellow Eco that nevertheless had the power to shove the Sage back a dozen feet, where she landed rather painfully on her backside. She got up slowly and took a small ball out of a pouch on a sling across her chest. She threw it at Jak, who hacked it in half with his Eco Blade. A large amount of powder issued from the ball, and Jak coughed as some of it entered his lungs and blinded him.
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. Tarea came rushing in, eager to take advantage of her opponent's apparent weakness and received a swift kick to the chest as a reward for not thinking clearly. Jak might not have been bale to see, but Tarea's swift steps were easy for his elf ears to pick up. Jak once again blocked an incoming blow from below and spun her Saber so that it flew out of Benedict's hand and into the air. Jak took careful aim and sliced at the bottom of the hilt, right where the power supply was. Her Eco Saber dead, Tarea quickly stored the hilt on her belt for an unknown reason and slashed downward frantically, but was blocked and again disarmed. She stared in shock as Jak pointed his Saber at her heart. As Jak prepared to knock the Sage out, he saw her go for another gadget and lunge at him. He quickly spun on the spot and delivered a back kick to her chest and sending her through the air. And a rock.
Tarea struggled to sit up as Jak approached her. She stuck out one of her metal gauntlets and her Eco Saber flew at it, also conveniently going through Jak's throat had he not spun around and grabbed it. As he turned off the Saber and prepared to destroy it, Tarea stuck out her hand again and a blast of Red Eco issued from it. Jak was caught unprepared and he was blown backwards from the attack, losing his grip on Tarea's weapon. The Sage caught her weapon and rushed in again.
As they two elves circled each other, Tarea decided to let Jak come to her. Rather than looking at Jak's body, the Sage stared straight into Jak's eyes, resisting the urge to shudder. She knew from experience that right before launching an attack, elves and Lurkers both had an 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 her. Tarea easily brought her dark Saber down to block the attack, and then ducked beneath a kick that the Channeler had aimed at her. Quickly, Tarea swung her weapon forged by the hands of the Precursors at her nemesis' exposed back, only to find Jak's Eco Blade coming back to intercept it, forcing hers towards the ground. Jak completed his rotation and caused Tarea to spin around. With a battle cry, the Sage continued spinning and attempted to backhand Jak with one of her gauntlets, a blow that Jak only just avoided.
As she attempted to close the distance, Tarea launched a large number of Eco blasts, and Jak leapt forward and to his right, performing a barrel role type spin while in mid-leap, his yellow-lighted weapon deflecting a few bolts that came close as his foe adjusted her aim. Jak performed the maneuver yet again, this time to the right, trying to throw Tarea off, before a third such leap placed him back in melee range.
Tarea swung with all of her enhanced might and Jak saw the amount of power behind the technique. Rather than attempting to block it, Jak opted to duck below the slash. He then continued through with his acrobatics, and brought his feet slamming up into Tarea's chest as he pushed off. Tarea felt stars explode in front of her vision as the kick, driven by Jak's considerable strength, connected. In a blind attempt to buy herself some time, she fired Red and Yellow Eco blasts wildly in the direction of her 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 somewhat hazardous 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 Tarea before coming down in an attempt to destroy the gauntlets and the Eco Saber once and for all.
Unfortunately for him, his foe was able to spin out of the way in time, and she once again lashed out with her metal covered arms. On the bright side of things, Tarea's blow was made hastily, and as a result, was quite sloppy and easy to avoid. Jak quickly put his Eco Blade away, grabbed the wrist of his opponent, and pulled it so it was across Jak's chest. He then stood next to Tarea so their shoulders and hips were touching and continued spinning, planning on using weight and body preferences to make her go down. Tarea simply leaned back and used her other hand to keep her balance, and Jak leaned both of them forward, hooking her arm behind her and rotating her wrist so that her pinky was turning towards her chest. Tarea tired to turn away, but Jak grabbed the crook in her back and stopped her before snapping her arm and breaking her shoulder blade into roughly a dozen pieces. Tarea cried out in pain as she sunk to her knees and then fell forward.
Jak got up off his opponent, believing her finished, and turned around when he heard Tarea roar. She had risen and threw a wild punch, her left arm bent at an angle that it really should not have been. Even as it glowed green and straightened itself out, Jak brought his foot up and kicked her right in the face. For a second the fighting halted, and both combatants' eyes locked. Jak held his hand up, the red stain upon it revealing that first blood went to Jak.
Tarea once again brought her arms to bear upon the Channeler, firing small blasts not much larger than a golf ball as fast as she could. The noble Channeler performed a back flip, and landed a good five feet away from Tarea before bringing his Yellow Eco Blade up to an attack position and glaring at his opponent. The Sage 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 Tarea that would lose patience and strike first, leaping forward and bringing her 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, Tarea pressed her attacks, slicing to and fro as she attempted to bring her opponent down.
However, her offense was stolen away when her enemy suddenly knocked the dark Eco Saber up high before following through with a thrust kick to her chest that cracked a rib and sent her staggering. Unfortunately, as Jak brought his own weapon down in an attempt to knock her out, Tarea was able to get her glowing weapon 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.
Abruptly, Tarea broke the blade lock and backed away, balling up her left fist. Jak let out a curse as the Sage sent a storm of Dark, Red, and Yellow Eco bolts at him as he furiously weaved his Eco Blade back and forth as he frantically backpedaled in an attempt to get some distance between himself and his foe. Jak leapt into the air in order to avoid a charged up blast from the elf's real arm and began running back in, using his forearm armor and his Eco Blade to deflect the attacks. Tarea stuck her hand out and the handle of her Eco Saber flew off her belt and into the metal appendage and turned on. Tarea once again smirked at Jak, showing that she had more advanced weapons on her side. What she failed to realize, however, was that any weapon was only as good as the fighter using it, and any fighter is only as good as his weakest technique.
Jak swung for Tarea'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. Tarea backed off an inch and stabbed, but Jak parried away her attack. Jak spun around with the parry and aimed his Blade right at Tarea's head. To his annoyance, he was blocked yet again. He came in up and to the right, yet again the Sage proved to be much too quick for Jak. She 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 Tarea used brute force to try to unbalance him with an overhead smash.
Tarea kneed Jak in the chest and then kicked him in the face. Jak went sprawling backwards and landed on his back. Tarea slammed her Saber down at Jak's throat but Jak grabbed Tarea's hand. Tarea's Saber got closer and closer to Jak's throat as they vied for control. Jak suddenly spotted a weakness in Tarea's battle stance: her legs were exposed. Tarea's leg collapsed as Jak swung his fist and hit a nerve, causing her leg to give out. Tarea went down, clutching her leg and received a kick in the head. The two of them lay down and waited for their individual pains to subside. Jak healed himself via his Green Eco Box while Tarea closed her eyes and a green light spread from her gauntlets and covered her body. The Channelers got to their feet and once again engaged each other.
Jak shoved Tarea back and sliced at her waist again. Tarea 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.
Tarea twirled her 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 Tarea before he broke free and spun around. Tarea blocked Jak's next three attempts on her consciousness and the two of them locked blades once more. Jak charged up a ball of Yellow Eco and Tarea charged one up using Red Eco. The two of them fired at the same time and the large orbs of Eco slammed against each other. The two of them pushed harder, each 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 Tarea made identical movements. Tarea spun her blade in her hand above her head a few times before swinging it at Jak. The Channeler spun his Blade to block it and spun his body around the manipulated elf. Tarea spun with Jak, never taking her eyes off her opponent. She blocked a blow that would have knocked her out had it connected and they locked blades once again. Jak sighed as Tarea attempted to out-muscle him. He spun away and began a furious series of attacks. Tarea waved her sword back and forth furiously as she blocked. Jak kicked Tarea's sword out of his hand and it too was broken. Tarea caught it and brought it back to her and Jak allowed her, seeing as how it was broken. He swung down and Tarea grabbed Jak's hands with her metal ones. She squeezed harder on the one holding Jak's Blade and Jak groaned as his wrist snapped. He opened his hand by reflex and the Eco dispersed. Jak quickly brought it back to him and re-formed the Blade, not wanting to waste any Eco.
Jak looked with satisfaction at both of the broken hilts. Tarea stuck them together and pulled them apart until they formed a staff six feet long. She pushed a button and the broken hilts began to glow before electric rings began to move up and down them. Jak and Tarea charged each other, whirling their weapons around in an attempt to disorientate and confuse the other. Jak leapt into the air as Tarea swung her Eco Staff, not only dodging the attack, but also placing himself in an ideal spot to end the fight with only one blow. As he stabbed for the mind control device on her back, Tarea flipped her Saber around and parried the block without looking. She spun around, putting so much force behind her weapon that Jak had to step back. As the female Sage swiped 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 Tarea in the chest as hard as he could. The force of his attack sent his opponent staggering back a few inches. As he came in, Tarea tried to strike Jak once again, coming in low. Jak jumped over the attack meant to shear his legs off and struck forward, swinging his Eco Blade vertically to cut off one of Tarea's ears. Though it would be painful, the she-elf would not lose hearing and would be stunned long enough for Jak to destroy the sinister machine on her back.
Unfortunately for Jak, Tarea blocked the blow with ease, but slowly began to push Tarea back, entering blade locks and using force to push her away. Jak continued walking towards Tarea, both ensuring his opponent would not get a chance to rest and hoping that with her back against the wall, his adversary would make a mistake and allow Jak to win the fight.
Tarea snarled as she pushed Jak back by winning a blade lock; Gol's hatred and anger for the boy fueling her mind. She brought one end of her staff straight down and then flipped her weapon around so that she would cut Jak in half from between the legs up. Jak jumped straight up as the weapon came in and landed on Tarea's staff. Jak balanced on the weapon for an instant, waving at the stunned and enraged Sage, before hopping down, using the force from his jump to cause Tarea to lose her balance. As the Expert of Precursor Technology staggered to regain her balance, Jak came in with a level slash aimed at the hips, putting enough force behind his Blade to only cause extreme amounts of pain, not cut anything off. Unfortunately for him, it was blocked, yet again. Tarea was proving to be much more accomplished at swordsmanship than Jak had originally surmised. Tarea 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.
Tarea, to her credit, saw the blow and decided that she could either end the fight here and now or draw it out and make Jak suffer. A quick command from Gol caused her to choose the latter (against her better judgment) and widened her grip on her sword. Her hands were now much wider, which was what she needed to use this move effectively. She brought it up quickly and Jak got hit in the wrists by the blow. In addition, his attack was now nullified. Tarea pushed up, throwing Jak off balance, spun around, and kicked the Channeler in the chest, glowing red as she did so. Jak went flying back and slammed into a nearby rock. Unfortunately, Tarea was much stronger than she looked, and he went right through it before hitting the ground and actually skidding up the hill for a few feet. As he healed himself with Green Eco, Jak got to his feet and tried to figure out just how Tarea could put such a force behind what should have only knocked him down. Jak got to his feet and ran at the Sage with such speed that she barely got her staff up in time to block. As he landed a few feet away from Tarea, Jak leapt in and struck at the same time, using the momentum from his landing carry him forward.
Jak slammed his Saber into Tarea's, not really aiming to hit her, 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 Tarea getting ready to cut him from the back as he came up, put his Blade 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 weapons around in intricate pattern. Tarea spun around two times before swinging one side of her sword in. She pulled it towards her so it wouldn't be a threat, but then quickly thrust it out again and stopped moving. She brought the same side in from an opposite direction and was dismayed when Jak didn't fall for her trick.
Tarea back flipped, landing on a boulder. Jak jumped up to meet him, bringing his sword straight down. Tarea 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 Tarea came down, he deflected the blow and kicked her in the stomach. Tarea 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 Blade horizontal, but quickly changed it to a downward slash. Tarea brought her weapon up vertically to block the incoming slash when Jak flipped angles and quickly had to change her own to avoid being beaten. They locked blades for an instant and Jak backed off, not wanting to get into a struggle of brute force again. Jak spun around three hundred and sixty degrees and tried to hit Tarea in the legs. Rather than blocking it, Tarea 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 Tarea 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 Tarea 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 Tarea 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 Tarea's feet again. He was blocked and as the staff came up, his Blade was knocked aside. Jak brought his knee up and slammed it into the middle of Tarea's staff. As it came up, Jak spun around and sliced it cleanly in half. Finally, the weapon was destroyed, melting away as the metal was cut apart. Tarea cursed and threw it to the ground before adopting a combat stance and curling her hands into fists inside her gauntlets. Jak did the same and the two waited once again for the other to make a move. Jak turned on his Red and Blue Eco Boxes so he would have the maximum fighting power as he waited for Tarea.
Said Sage came charging in a second later, her hands glowing bright yellow. Jak ducked under the first attack- a wild hook punch- and sent his fist driving forward into her ribs. As the bones were fractured, Jak hit her again and then took a half step to her outside. His rear leg came up and around and delivered a hard roundhouse kick that sent the Sage sprawling into the ground. As Jak pivoted and prepared to punch straight down, Tarea kicked out her legs and spread them between Jak's, causing his stance to widen and his balance to be lost. Her feet came driving upwards, and a nasty gasp of pain left Jak's throat as instinct kicked in and his head came down, along with his entire upper half. Fortunately, Tarea had fired a blast of Yellow Eco at his head, and his leaning forward had caused it to miss.
Tarea stood up as Jak hunched over, his hands grabbing his pelvis, and brought her foot up, around, and back down on Jak's back in an axe-kick. Jak went down as the blow rattled his spine and caused him to drop to his knees, where a side kick to the face made him fall over, still clutching himself.
"Too easy," Tarea said as she closed her eyes and concentrated, causing her gauntlets to glow a deep purple. She put her hands together tan prepared to fire a blast when pain exploded in her right leg. She looked down and saw the rat that she had fried before sinking his claws into her flesh. She instinctively tried to ignore the pain and simply shake him off, but she soon realized that Daxter's claws went far too deep for her to take out with shaking. She bent down and tried to grab him, but Daxter quickly let go and scrambled up her leg, being sure to dig his claws in whenever he touched her.
Now trying to ignore a burning sensation, Tarea grabbed at Daxter and managed to get a firm grip on his tail. She held him up upside down and taunted him as she shook him back and forth.
"Aw, bite me lady," Daxter shot back when Tarea wondered of she should cook him. Right after this retort, Daxter used his hind legs to dig into her hand that was holding him, causing her to let go. Daxter then used some fancy acrobatics, swinging back and forth on her hand like an acrobat and landing on her face. He scrambled over it, nearly gouging one of her eyes out, and landed in her hair. As he twirled his hands around to make sure he wouldn't fall out, Daxter began yanking on her hair, causing the injured Sage to cry out and being jerking her head around to try to dislodge him. All her efforts did, unfortunately, was give Daxter more momentum, which he used to hurt her.
By this point, Jak had healed himself and was ready to fight, but was standing off to the side, merely watching his fired fight the Sage. Not out of laziness, or unkindness did Jak not aid his friend, but out of curiosity. Jak was very interested to know just how far his friend could go before he was defeated: if he was at all. As Tarea grabbed his best friend's neck with her gauntlets, however, Jak knew that the time to intervene had come.
Jak ran forward and stamped his feet down, causing the Sage to look up. Jak jumped over a hook punch this time, and did a half twist in the air. He lashed out with his feet, hitting her in the back, and landed as she went forward, her hands coming up. Jak grabbed his friend out of her grip and gasped as she turned around and punched him in the chest with enough force to indent the skin a little. Jak staggered back and waited for her to rush in at him. When she did, Jak was well alerted, given Daxter screamed in his ear loud enough to disturb some birds resting in the village. Jak waited for Tarea to get real close and dropped down to the ground, pulling her shoulders with him. He maintained a firm grip on her gauntlets and kicked out, causing the Sage to go flying off him. Jak was in for an unexpected trip as he went with her, his hands attached to the gauntlets that were attached to her arms by a series of wires. The boy quickly summoned an Eco Blade and cut the wires, surprised when Eco came gushing out. As he did that, Tarea ripped his Eco Belt off, causing them both to lose their powers and become as normal as they could get.
Tarea reached for a pouch on her sling and pulled out a number of small pellets. She threw them at Jak, who dodged to the left to avoid being hit. In the end it did no good. As they flew through the air, the balls exploded, causing bright flashes of light to go off and making Jak and Daxter both blind. Tarea quickly drew out another gadget and threw it at Jak, tying him up once again. She then took a small cylindrical object off her belt and swung it, revealing it to be a small dagger as the blade extended. Jak was unaware of his nearing demise as Tarea slashed downwards, aiming for Jak's heart…
Only to fall to the ground, screaming in pain as an arrow pierced the exposed machine on her back.
"Nice shot," Meredith said lightly as she loosened her grip on the two sickles on her belt, as Richard did the same with his falchions.
"Thanks," Keira said as she went down to Jak and untied him. Tarea got up and looked around before Keira filled the Sage in on all that had happened.
"So that's why we're being discreet: we want to catch Gol by surprise," Keira finished.
"You won't. I don't know how, but he knows you're coming. He told me to follow you when you arrived, so he knows that you are freeing us. He is merely humoring you, letting you think you have a chance. What he doesn't know is how much stronger you have grown, and that is an enormous advantage. One good thing about Gol is that he is a fool: he released Samos from his control and now only waits to for you to link up with the Sage. Once you do, he will lead an army from the Citadel to destroy all of Weyard."
"So how do we stop him?" Keira asked, noting with some annoyance that Richard and Meredith both were leaning casually against the wall, looking supremely unconcerned.
"I know of two Channelers in this town, who may be able to help you. Their names are Retep and Julia, and they are both powerful. Retep is a very good mechanic, maybe rivaling you Keira, and Julia is the most unorthodox fighter I've ever seen. You'll see what I mean when you watch her Channel Eco."
"So where do we find them?" Richard asked, taking an interest in the conversation now that something had been decided.
"You don't. Go ahead to The City of The Sky. I'll send them along after Retep and Julia have packed. Oh, and Jak, here," Tarea added as she handed the gauntlets and the hidden power pack to him. He shook his head, but Tarea insisted. "Take it, and save the crystals still. You must use them only when you battle Gol, for they will be the most use to you then," she said. Keira looked at Jak sharply, who sighed and took out a pouch on his belt that Keira realized had never been there. With infinite care, Jak pulled out a Blue Eco Crystal, which was a small orb with one end set in Precursor metal, and a Red Eco Crystal, which had an odd look. It started in a Precursor metal circle about two inches in diameter before spreading out another inch. It then went back in, with grooves spiraling around the crystal. Jak examined the power pack on Tarea's equipment and found two slots that looked as though his crystals fit, and two others. "Samos will give you his, and Potentia will surely have given his to the group that defeated him." Jak nodded and put the power pack on his back before shaking the Sage's hand, unable to think of any other way to thank her.
"Now, we must get going," Meredith stated.
"I will keep your Zoomer here. And don't worry, the Sages will not abandon you in your quest. Look for us when the hour seems darkest, for then we shall appear." Jak and the other nodded before jumping through the Warp Gate and emerging in The City of The Sky. By an enormous coincidence, they saw Andrew, Liz and Tiffany land on horses. After the two swapped storied, they agreed to find Keira's father, who was imprisoned somewhere, and who held the last of the Eco Crystals…
Okay, sorry this took so long. I am truly sorry: I had planned on updating yesterday, but I wasn't happy with the fight scene and so I went back and added to it. Hope that was okay, along with Tarea's explanation of what to do next. Next chapter, Samos is rescued and all but one of the Channelers arrive. Then, things will get interesting. I'd like to thank Red Mage 04 and Keeroshu for giving me some ideas, as well as everyone's continued support and tolerance of me. Also, I hope the whole "Jak having the Eco Crystals," is okay. Not only do they supply him with nearly limitless power, but they will be key to defeating Gol. One more little thing: expect the oddballs to show up again, as well as some unexpected allies in the next couple of chapter. It's hard to believe I'm almost done, and I'd like to thank everyone who has helped me. And now, I unfortunately must ask for some help. If anyone had any ideas for a weapon, or an Eco technique that I haven't please tell me now before I write these chapters. Also, if you have thought of a new weapon system for the Precursor Robot, please tell m, there is a very good chance I will add it in. And now, I bid you all adieu, and I hope to be updating this Saturday. Oh, and if anyone else has a general rule of health, share it: I only have two.
Quote of the week- Me
Rule #16 of Life (Also called my First Rule of General Health): The good die young and pricks live forever.