The mountain temple loomed before us, the sandy stone it carved with striking a familiar feeling in my body. Man, it feels like its been ages since I've seen a precursor temple, or anything precursor at all. My entire life has revolved around the ancient beings, I being taught some vague history by Samos, and exploring the forest temple near our home with Jak. Daxter would sometimes reluctantly come with, but those moments with Jak… I'd never forget. He didn't speak at that time, but he didn't need to. My words were enough to fill the silence, I always had something to say. But now… that girl is hidden away, trapped by insecurities and pain. I had a feeling the boy Jak used to be was hidden away too. Maybe it was for the best. Jak and I crossed the floating platforms, something we were both used to by now, and continued around to find an entrance.

"So, this reminds you of anything Zoe?" Jak asked, pulling me up the cliff after we defeated a giant metal head.

"yeah, the temple back home. Granted, this ones… bigger. But at least there's no giant flowers to eat you." I teased, elbowing him and walking past him.

"You're never gonna let me live that down, are you?"

"Nope. Buutt you did save me from a lurker, so we're even."

"That was the explosion that knocked me into the eco!" Daxter piped up.

"Yeah, sorry about that. But you get to be cute and fuzzy. And the ladies love cute animals. Especially tess." I said, aiming at a group of metalheads blocking our path.

"Oh, tess. Sweet, sassy and tough. Plus she's packing so… heh heh." He nudges jak, who rolls his eyes.

"Lucky she hasn't heard your 'brave' heroics yet." I said, standing and continuing. After another 15 minutes of walking, we spotted what I presumed was a artifact.

"Neat. Uh, you.. you can get it jak."

"Scared?" He asked.

"No, cautious." I corrected, but daxter beat us to it, walking towards the mechanism.

"I bet that's the prize. Bet they won't miss one tiny gear" He says, grabbing the gear.

"uh.. I don't think-"

"like candy from a baby." He says, walking back towards us. But there was a groan, everything collapsing behind daxter. Jak and I were shocked as the whole thing fell into pieces.

"No one will ever know we were here." He says, continuing to walk.

"Y..you… daxter!" I exclaimed, turning around.

"And this is why no one takes you to ancient temples." Jak sighs, walking after him. I followed, prepared for more of their shenanigans.

*timeskip of an hour*

We retrieved the other artifact, it being a crystal, approached the last one.

"That's some peeper, huh?" daxter asked, we all looking up at the light beaming from the ceiling.

"Don't break anything this time." I asked, not wanting to destroy any more precursor stuff. Daxter walked into the light, I smelling something burning.

"Something's cookin'. Kind of smells like.. burnt ottsel!?" He exclaims as he notices his tail on fire, screaming and beginning to run in circles, activating the platform below us and causing the lens to float down, Jak catching it.

"Nice one, but uh, Daxter?" I asked, he running back and forth now. But as soon as the light went off he stopped, the flames going out. He sighed in relief, I couldn't help but giggle.

"Hah hah laugh at the ottsel in pain."

"Sorry. But your reactions are hilarious." I said, looking over at jak, who put the lens in his bag.

"C'mon guys. Let's head back so we can plan our next move."

"And that is?"

"Getting to the palace." He said, I now getting excited.

"Vin, buddy. We need a favor." Jak said as we approached the hectic man, who was typing away at his keyboard. I told Jak that he was our man to turn on the elevator, but it wasn't going to be easy convincing him.

"I can't help you with your Eco bill." He said

"No, no. We need you to switch on the access elevator on one of the palace's support towers." I explained.

"sheesh. That's part of the old B-zone power grid. It hasn't worked for years."

"Well, if its too hard for you, I understand." Jak says, turning around, "and power stuff can be tricky." He winked at me.

"Tricky? Hmph. I can route the B-zone conduit lines to the bypass bridge jumping past the eco rings connecting to the inductor tubes-" he began to rant, talking all kinds of technical jargon that even lost me at one point. But he stopped, waving his arms as he completed the task.

"Vin, you're a genius." Jak said, crossing his arms.

"Eh, actually Mar was the genius. People say he made most of this stuff long ago. The shield wall system, the eco grid. Anyway, to get that elevator moving you gotta find and turn on all the old B-zone power boxes located in the city. There are 5 of em!" Vin exclaims.

"that doesn't sound so tough." Daxter said.

"Wait for it.." I crossed my arms.

"No, except for those power boxes are guarded by motion sensing turbo cannons! But if you can destroy those cannons and switch the boxes on, I can do the rest." Vin says, daxter looking shocked and shaking his hear, Jak nodding.

"Luckily I did some planning before hand." I pulled out a map of the city, pointing to where the turrets were, "There are 3 in the industrial section, and 2 in the slums. Now these things are tough so regular bullets aren't going to work. So I developed something that might help." I placed a sack on the table.

"What's that?" Daxter asked, jumping down and peeking into the bag. He immediately recoiled at the smell, "Ugh! Stinks worse than Krew!"

"Well, it's something I picked up in the forest. Sap from a tree. Highly flammable if struck. I mixed it with red eco and gunpowder. If we stick it to the cannons and then shoot it, bam! Instant bonfire."

"Way to go, Z. But what's the plan then?"

"So, this is when it gets complicated. You drive my zoomer with me on the back. Get close enough to it and it'll pop out of the ground. That's when you do a tail spin, I throwing the sap bomb and you shoot it as we drive to the next one. We gotta do it fast because as soon as the first one emerges, the KG will be all over us."

"That's… actually a good idea." Jak says.

"Well im not just a pretty face. Plus I've always wanted to blow up stuff."

"Did you two forget that these are cannons?!" Daxter exclaims, "We'll get shot at!"

"Daxter, when have we ever not been shot at? It'll be a regular Tuesday for us." I shrugged.

"You guys are crazy." Vin says.

"Eh. That's what makes it fun. Let's go, guys." I say, sprinting out the door with the other two not far behind. I jumped on the zoomer, Jak taking the driver's seat. It was a simple two person one, faster and easier to drive. I wrapped one arm around Jak's waist.

"Ready?" He asks.

"As ill ever be. Let's hit the slums first, then swing to the industrial zone so we'll be right next to the elevator."

"How do you know so much about this?"

"I really don't have time to explain. Let's go." I shook my head, he gunning it and we raced through the city, reaching the first one in record time. It emerged from its hiding spot, targeting us.

"Maybe my Intel was a bit off. Let's just focus." I shake my head, jak maneuvering the bike so it was under the cannon's barrel, I throwing the bomb at it. It stuck and splattered, jak taking off and shooting it, an Expolsion rocking the street. Civilians ran panicking, alarms going off.

"Now this is where the fun begins." Jak said, I nodding in agreement.

"1 down, 4 more to go. Surprisingly, the cannons were sucking up the power to the switches, so destroying them reverts the power back to the original source." I explained over the rushing wind, we taking out the last one in the slums. Alarms continued to blare loudly, and gunfire flew over our heads.

"Uh, not to alarm you guys but they're shooting at us!" Daxter yelled, we entering tne industrial zone.

"We're gonna get surrounded fast, new plan." I say, handing daxter the bag as we blow up another turret.

"and that is?" Daxter asked. I quickly looked around, seeing a Parked zoomer.

"I get one and you get the last one. We meet at the elevator."

"You sure separating is a good idea?" Jak asked.

"No. But it's better than half the guard on our asses. Trust me Jak." I reassured, squeezing his side. He put his hand over mine for a second before I stood, leaping up and catching the zoomer. I climbed on board, shooting off towards the cannon.

"You wanna chase guys? I'll give you a chase " I said, as about 3 of the 6 KG cruisers began to follow me. I dodged people and other objects, shooting one and causing it to blow, catching it's allies in the blast. I reached the cannon and went to grab a bomb, but remembered that I left it with the boys. Crap, time for plan B. I hated doing this but it was the only option. Plus my zoomer was on the brink of exploding due to the gunfire it suffered. So I took my hair tie out and tied it to the acceleration, jumping off just before it hit the cannon, backflipping and landing on my knees just as it collided with the cannon. A huge explosion rang out, shrapnel raining down.

"So you're the one destroying all our cannons." Erol's voice rang out from behind me. Strangely enough he was by himself. His zoomer parked behind him.

"Oh, you know I thought I'd do y'all a favor and get rid of them. Make haven city more.. liveable. They're an eyesore." I said sarcastically, waiting to hear another explosion, signaling to meet Jak at the elevator.

"Enough, you brat! Give up." He says, pulling out his gun. He was only about a foot away, approaching while I was talking.

"Really Erol? After all this, you're gonna shoot me? Where's the class?"

"Oh no, I'm not going to shoot to kill princess. Just injure so you'll stop running from me. Unfortunately The Baron wants you alive. Something about power-" but I didn't let him finish. I swung my leg and kicked the gun from his hand, and with him being surprised by that I punched him in the jaw. Causing him to fall to the floor. I ran to his zoomer, hopping on and waving to him as he began to get up.

"You talk to much, dude. Also, I'm taking your ride." I shouted, driving towards the tower. This thing was fast. Faster than the one I tinkered with. Within seconds I reached my destination, Jak hoping off his ride just as I slid to park.

"See? Told you not to worry." I said, jumping off and jak helping me stand.

"Your knees are scrapped. And your hair's down. What happened?"

"Also is that Erol's zoomer?" Daxter asked, appaled.

"I'll explain later, we should get going. Also, it's my zoomer now." I said, running towards the tower as the door opened.

"Way to go Vin. Power's on. Y'all ready to do some good ol climbing?" I asked, hitting the button for the elevator.

"We got a little bit of time, Zoe. You care to explain why you know so much?" jak asked.

"Okay, but understand that at that time, I had to do what was right." I said as the elevator dinged and we climbed inside, I starting my story.