Chapter 9: Spider Cave and Snowy Mountain

Raffina took one of the minecarts to reach the entrance to Spider Cave. After riding on it, she got off and went inside. Immediately, she saw a spider coming down from its web.

Raffina: "Oh geez, that's a big spider…"

The spider then saw Raffina and proceeded to spit a purple projectile at her.

Raffina: "...! Hoo-! Take this!"

Raffina dodge-rolled and voided the projectile, then tried to punch the spider. The spider, however, lurched upward to get out of the way.

Raffina: "I-it missed?!"

Raffina backed up and the spider came back to spit out another projectile. Raffina dodged it and decided to try something else.

Raffina: "Alright, you… If my punch didn't work on you, then you'll just have to eat my uppercut! Hyah!"

Raffina performed her uppercut and the spider got hit. It was knocked off the web and it went down. After defeating the Spider, Raffina spotted two web-like trampolines sitting over dark eco.

Raffina: "Oh no... Do I really have to jump on those things and over that dark eco to get to the other side? *sigh*"

Raffina reluctantly went over to the first trampoline and jumped on it. She bounced on it a couple of times before going to the second one. And then, she jumped to the other side. There, she met another spider and she quickly took it out with an uppercut. Raffina continued forward and collected Precursor orbs along the way. She soon took a left, then a right… And this led her to some more trampolines that were over dark eco.

Raffina: "Ugh, more dark eco…"

Raffina bounced on each of the trampolines, going leftward, and reached solid ground again. Up ahead from there, she saw another trampoline that led to a wooden structure perched above. She went over to the trampoline and bounced up to the structure. A few steps in front of her, Raffina noticed a trapdoor built into the floor boards. And past that, she saw a lurker drilling into some rock.

Raffina: "A trapdoor… I almost didn't see that. I'll need to go over it and deal with that lurker ahead."

And that's exactly what Raffina did. She hopped over the trapdoor, then jumped to where the lurker was. She took it out and reached the other side of the structure, which she then jumped down from to more solid ground. She immediately saw another wooden structure, as well as a small side path.

Raffina: "Hmm… I think I see a power cell in that path!"

Raffina got to the separate path by bouncing on more trampolines. Once she did, she saw a bunch of round things that were pulsating, and she was disgusted.

Raffina: "Eww! What are those things?!"

As soon as she said that, a bunch of baby spiders came out of the round things.

Raffina: "Ack-! Baby spiders! Those must have been spider eggs! I need to run for the power cell and get back on the trampolines!"

Raffina went as fast as she could and kicked away any baby spiders that tried to attack her. This lasted until she got to the power cell. She grabbed it, and immediately pocketed it. *power cell no. 87* And then, she saw that there was a blue eco launcher as well as a cluster blue eco.

Raffina: "Ah-! I might be able to get out of this path easier with that!"

Raffina took in the blue eco and got on the blue eco launcher. She was then shot up into the air. This brought her back to the start of the first wooden structure.

Raffina: "Phew… I'm safe… … Hey, is that…?"

As she said that and noticed something on a bit of ground that was surrounded by dark eco, the communicator appeared and Samos' voice came from it.

Samos: "Raffina, that's one of the dark eco crystals; destroy it!"

The communicator disappeared and Raffina stood there for a second.

Raffina: "That's one of the dark eco crystals? They're bigger than I thought they would be…"

Raffina bounced on the nearby trampolines to get to the crystal and punched it. It didn't shatter… but it started to make a noise.

Raffina: "...?! I think I need to get away!"

Raffina jumped back over to one of the trampolines and she heard an explosion from behind. She looked back as she bounced and noticed that the crystal was gone.

Raffina: "What the heck? Samos never told us that these things are set to go off after hitting them. Geez, that was a nasty surprise…"

Raffina then continued to explore Spider Cave and see what it had to offer. Meanwhile… Amitie and the others have just arrived at Snowy Mountain and they got off the gondola they used to get there. Snow was falling down, and there was a ton of that stuff around their feet.

Daxter: "G-great… we came from a really warm location… t-to a really cold one."

Amitie: "Y-yeah… it is cold…"

Amitie, Jak, and Daxter were shivering from the cold air blowing around, and Lidelle didn't shiver whatsoever.

Lidelle: "Well, it's a good thing that I'm wearing my sweater…"

Daxter: "Uugh… L-lucky… Why don't I have a sweater?"

Daxter was jealous of Lidelle and her sweater, but Amitie didn't want to hear it.

Amitie: "Oh come on, Daxter; you have FUR. Isn't that stuff supposed to keep you warm?"

Daxter: "N-not when it's basically the tundra out here, Amitie! L-let's just get this over with!"

And so… Amitie, Lidelle, and Jak began to collect Precursor orbs that were nearby. As they did that, Lidelle was ambushed by two snow lurkers that were hiding in the snow.

Lidelle: "Kyah-!"

Amitie: "Oh no, Lidelle! Get away from her, you meanies! Hiya!"

Amitie slapped the two snow lurkers, and they both went down.

Lidelle: "Th-thanks, Amitie…"

Amitie: "Don't mention it, Lidelle."

Amitie smiled and Lidelle started to smile as well.

Lidelle: "You're such a good friend… … Anyway, we should get going."

Everyone continued to collect the nearby Precursor orbs and they all went over a gap in their own way. Jak rolled over it, Lidelle used her long-lasting spin jump to hover over it, and Amitie used her Puyo hat to glide over it. As everyone got to the other side, they were ambushed by snow lurkers. However, they were ready for them this time. Jak punched one of them, Amitie slapped another, and Lidelle smacked a third one with her sweater sleeve. The lurkers kept coming through, and the trio had to deal with them.

Eventually, they took all of the snow lurkers out and the girls sighed.

Amitie and Lidelle: "*sigh*"

Amitie: "Are those guys just gonna keep popping out of the snow like that…?"

Lidelle: "P-probably, Amitie…"

Daxter: "Regardless, they're annoying!"

Amitie: "You said it! … Hey, there's a scout fly here!"

Amitie went up to the first scout fly and freed it. From there, she saw two icy platforms that were leading up to a higher part of the mountain. Precursor orbs were seen floating around there. The others saw them two as they caught up with Amitie.

Amitie: "Hmm… I don't think I can get up there."

Lidelle: "I don't think I can get up there, either…"

Daxter: "But I think Jak can!"

Amitie: "Really? … Ah-! Lidelle, look! There's another path that goes left from here and it leads to a bridge!"

Lidelle: "Um… … Hey, judging from where we are… it looks like these two different paths meet up with each other at some point."

Daxter: "Then let's split up for a bit! Jak, let's get up there!"

Jak nodded and walked over to the first icy platform. From there, he made a high jump to get up to the other one. Then, Amitie and Lidelle made their way over to where that bridge was. The two parties collected a lot of Precursor orbs and they each freed four more scout scout flies while separated. After some time passed, Amitie noticed something.

Amitie: "Hm? I think there's something in the snow, Lidelle."

Lidelle: "I-is it one of those lurkers?"

Amitie: "I hope not. Well, I'm diving in!"

Amitie dived into the snow and Lidelle was worried for her friend.

Lidelle: "A-Amitie!"

After that, several seconds went by in silence until…

Amitie: "I found it; it's a power cell!"

Lidelle: "A-a power cell in the snow…?! Yay!"

The two did a special dance together, then Amitie pocketed the power cell. *power cell no. 88 And then, the two made their way up and forward. This led this to a crevice that was rather small. Lidelle noticed that there were Precursor orbs in there and she got Amitie's attention.

Lidelle: "Amitie, look at this…"

Amitie: "Huh? … Hey, there are more orbs in there! But, how the heck can we get to them?"

Lidelle: "Um… I think I'm small enough to get in there…"

Lidelle then squeezed herself in the crevice and began to shuffle sideways. She took the Precursor orbs that were going through the unknown path, and eventually found herself in a more open space.

Lidelle: "Wh-where am I…? It's so dark, I can barely see anything…"

Lidelle walked forward and came to a part of the space that was lit up. There was a torch, and a power cell was just sitting there.

Lidelle: "A-another power cell!"

Lidelle ran up to it and grabbed it. Her eyes sparkled for a bit before she pocketed it. *power cell no. 89* After doing that, she took the torch from where it was at and made her way back to the crevice. Then she placed the torch down on the snow and went back through the crevice to return to Amitie. When Lidelle came out of it, she told Amitie what she found inside. Amitie smiled and the two continued their trek to meet up with Jak and Daxter. Meanwhile… Jak got out from the path that had those icy platforms, took out some more snow lurkers with red eco, then…

Daxter: "Jak, look over there; those are Precursor blockers. You should deactivate them by diving down on the buttons that are on top."

Jak deactivated all of the Precursor blockers in the area that he was in and went forward. He slid on some ice, and then Amitie and Lidelle saw him from where they were.

Amitie: "Hey, it's Jak!"

Lidelle: "I-I was right! The two paths do meet up at some point…"

Amitie: "Jak! It's us!"

Jak turned around and saw the girls. He waved and urged them to come over to where he and Daxter were. Amitie and Lidelle walked over to him and the group was back together. At that moment, Daxter noticed that there was something huge up ahead.

Daxter: "Hey, is that a lurker fort?"

Amitie and Lidelle: "A-a lurker fort?!"

Daxter: "... They look like they're doing something in there…"

Lidelle: "I-is it something bad?"

Daxter: "Dunno. Maybe we should check it out."

Amitie: "How do we get in there, though? The way to enter seems to be closed…"

They all looked around for a way to enter the lurker fort. As they did so, they collected more Precursor orbs. And Jak deactivated more of those Precursor blockers, just to make sure that something happens. They walked over a couple of bridges, then encountered a wide floating platform. The group jumped to it and they were taken to a path that had a few clusters of yellow eco. Up ahead, there were a LOT of little lurkers and dark eco boxes.

Amitie: "*gasp* Lurkers and dark eco boxes! Guys, take in that yellow eco and start shooting at them!"

Lidelle: "O-okay!"

Amitie, Lidelle, and Jak all took in clusters of yellow eco and they all began to launch fireballs. Together, they were trucking through most of the trash and Daxter cheered them on.

Daxter: "Go! Go! Go!"

It took a good bit of time, but they managed to take out all of those small lurkers and dark eco boxes after getting to the end. And then…

Amitie: "Hey, there's a power cell just on the other side of that gap!"

Daxter: "Jak, get it!"

Jak rolled over the gap and grabbed the power cell. He and Daxter did a dance together, then the former pocketed it. *power cell no. 90* The others then came to Jak and they all got up to another path. This path led them all back to the beginning section of Snowy Mountain.

Amitie: "Hey, we're back around where we started."

Lidelle: "Hmm… Look at those giant snowballs rolling down…"

Daxter: "Wherever they're coming from must go somewhere. Let's walk up where they're coming from, guys."

The group then forged on through this new path, avoiding the giant snowballs as they came. They collected Precursor orbs along this path, and Jak deactivated a couple more Precursor blockers. As Jak deactivated the second one of the two, a power cell appeared and it landed in the snow. He got to it before a snowball could slam into him and he immediately pocketed it. *power cell no. 91* Amitie gave Jak a thumbs up and the group walked up to the top of the path. To their right, was a red eco vent. And to their left… were more Precursor orbs and lurkers.

Daxter: "Guys, a red eco vent is over there! We can use red eco to beat up those lurkers!"

Amitie: "Alright, let's get wicked!"

Amitie went through the red eco vent first, but… nothing happened.

Amitie: "Huh? I don't feel any different."

Lidelle: "Huh...?"

Daxter: "What?"

Lidelle went through the red eco vent next, but… nothing happened for her either.

Lidelle: "M-my body isn't taking in the red eco…"

Daxter: "Maybe you guys can't channel red eco through your bodies?"

Amitie: "Oh, whaaat? That's lame!"

Lidelle: "Then I guess Jak is the only one out of you guys that can use red eco…"

Daxter: "Alright, Jak… get to it!"

Jak went over to where the lurkers were, and Amitie and Lidelle followed behind. Jak took down each and every lurker. From there, he saw a creature with a shield that was operating a device of sorts. The device itself seemed to be ramming into some ice. With red eco, he was able to take it down. Jak gave the girls a thumbs up and they all went back to an area near the lurker fort. They encountered two more creatures with shields and Jak took them out with some red eco. After he defeated the third one in total, a power cell appeared in his hands. Daxter did the robot for a bit before Jak pocketed it. *power cell no. 92* And then, Amitie noticed something.

Amitie: "Hey, I see something behind those trees there."

Daxter: "You do?"

Amitie: "Yeah! Follow me, guys!"

Lidelle and Jak followed Amitie to those trees and they all took a closer look.

Jak: "..."

Lidelle: "..."

Daxter: "... …! Hey, you're right, Amitie! There's a hidden path behind the trees!"

Amitie: "Yay! Come on, guys! Let's go in there!"

Everyone went in and went across icy platforms. Slowly but surely, they were going up and they collected a few Precursor orbs along the way. Then, they saw something interesting over to their left.

Amitie: "Woah… What IS that?"

Lidelle: "G-guys, look. A power cell is resting at the top of that thing."

Daxter: "Then go get it!"

Amitie: "I'll go! You guys can just wait here."

Amitie walked up the thing that the group saw and grabbed the power cell. She did a silly dance, then made a peace sign before pocketing it. *power cell no. 93* After she did that, a button below her was pressed. And then, the communicator appeared to Amitie and Keira's voice came from it.

Keira: "Hey! You just activated yellow eco events all over the world, Amitie! I think a couple of them were just activated here in Snowy Mountain; see if you can find them with Jak and Lidelle."

Amitie: "Okay!"

The communicator disappeared and Amitie went back to the others. She told them what Keira said and Daxter said something in response.

Daxter: "Hey, Jak and I saw a metal box in that one path we went to when we were separated from you girls. There was an inactive vent there; maybe that's one of the yellow eco vents."

Amitie: "Then let's go back there!"

The whole group went all the way back to that one path and…

Amitie: "Yep! There's the yellow eco vent!"

Daxter: "Alright Jak, you know what to do!"

Jak got up to the yellow eco vent and passed through it. Then, he fired a fireball at the metal box, and out came a power cell. Jak went up to it, grabbed it, and pocketed it. *power cell no. 94* After doing that, he and Daxter returned to the girls.

Daxter: "Okay, so uh… what do we do now? We still haven't found a way to get into that lurker fort…"

Amitie and Lidelle: "Hmm…"

As they stood there, the communicator appeared before them and Keira's voice came from it.

Keira: "Guys, there's a transpad over in this direction; follow the communicator."

The group quickly followed the communicator and they were led to where the pad was at. On the pad… was the flut flut.

Amitie: "Hey, it's the baby flut flut!"

Keira: "Yep! And you can take him all the way to another power cell by having him press that button by the pad. Good luck, guys!"

The communicator went away and the group looked at the flut flut. As they did, the flut flut looked back at them and said…

Flut Flut: "Momma! Auntie!"

Lidelle: "H-hello, Mr. Flut Flut."

The flut flut then urged Lidelle to ride him. Lidelle was hesitant at first, but then she smiled and got on. And then, she worked on her riding skills before doing anything else. Soon enough, Lidelle got the hang of it and she used the flut flut to press on the button. This made a bunch of platforms appear, and a ticking sound came in.

Lidelle: "U-uh-oh, it's timed! I'll be back, guys…!"

Lidelle had the flut flut take off and she used it to jump across MANY platforms. She collected Precursor orbs as she did this and came up towards the end. There, she saw something glowing.

Lidelle: "I-I think that's the power cell! Come on, Mr. Flut Flut: We have to hurry!"

Lidelle got across the last several platforms and reached the end, where another pad and the power cell was at. She dismounted the flut flut at the pad and grabbed the power cell. Lidelle twirled around for a bit and smiled before pocketing it. *power cell no. 95* As she did, a button below her feet was pressed and this caused something large to come down next to her. She jumped a bit, but quickly recovered from the slight scare. And then, she took a floating platform back to the others.

Daxter: "You got the power cell, Lidelle?"

Lidelle: "Y-yes. Also, I seem to have activated something when I took the power cell. It made something huge and wooden drop to where I was."

Amitie: "Wooden?"

Daxter: "Wooden… …! Maybe the door to the lurker fort is open now! Let's go back to it!"

Everyone went back to the lurker fort, and sure enough, the way inside was open. The group entered the fort and scaled it to a high point. This high point had both a cluster of blue eco, and the sixth scout fly. Jak took in the blue eco and used it to free the scout fly. From there, the group looked through the rest of the fort. As they did so, they collected a lot of Precursor orbs. Eventually, Daxter saw something glowing.

Daxter: "Oh yeah, a power cell! Jak, get to it!"

Jak made his way over to the power cell and the girls simply watched him as he swung on poles to get there. He landed somewhat near the power cell and grabbed some more orbs. This caused another power cell to appear in Jak's hands. Jak and Daxter did a dance together before the former pocketed it. *power cell no. 96* And then, Jak grabbed the loose power cell and pocketed it. *power cell no. 97* Jak dropped down to the snow and found something. As it turned out, it was a scout fly. Jak freed it and a power cell appeared in his hands. He and Daxter busted out the moves before the former pocketed it. *power cell no. 98* From there, Jak urged the girls to come down to where he is. They got to him, Daxter said something to the others.

Daxter: "Well, I think we got everything here… Let's go back to the Volcanic Crater and meet up with Raffina."

Amitie: "Knowing her, she has probably finished doing her things by now…"

Lidelle: "I-in that case, we should hurry."

The group nodded and they made their way back to the gondola. From there, they used it to return to Volcanic Crater. Meanwhile, Raffina had received two power cells by shattering a couple of boulders with red eco. *power cell numbers 99 and 100* She was making good progress and saw a yellow eco vent...

Raffina: "Oh, this must be yellow eco. I'll use it to hit those lurkers, as well as that dark eco crystal over there."

But when Raffina went into the yellow eco vent… nothing happened.

Raffina: "What the-? I don't feel any different… …! No, don't tell me!"

Right on cue, the communicator appeared before her and Samos' voice came from it.

Samos: "It seems you're unable to channel yellow eco through your body, Raffina…"

Raffina: "Th-then… what do I do?! You told us that we need to destroy those dark eco crystals, and there's one up there that I can't get to."

Samos: "Then I suppose I'll have Keira get the others to come and help you, whether they want to or not."

The communicator disappeared and Raffina had no choice but to wait for the others to arrive. Once the others returned to the Volcanic Crater… the communicator appeared before them and Keira's voice came from it.

Keira: "Guys, you all need to come to Spider Cave right away. Raffina needs help taking out a bunch of lurkers that are gnawing on wood, as well as a dark eco crystal!"

Daxter: "Help? She needs HELP? Why?"

Keira: "Daxter, my father says that Raffina is unable to channel yellow eco. The rest of you can channel yellow eco, right? Go help her!"

The communicator went away and Daxter sighed.

Daxter: "*sigh* Do we have to?"

Amitie: "Daxter, Raffina is our friend; of course we're gonna help her! That, and Keira just said that Raffina can't channel yellow eco."

Lidelle: "W-we need to go in Spider Cave and take lurkers out."

Amitie: "And we need to destroy that dark eco crystal, so that we can stop Gol! Also, don't you want to change back, Daxter?"

Daxter: "*growls* Alright already! I get it! We need to go in there to save the world and change me back to how I was before this whole adventure started!"

Amitie: "And to have me, Raffina, Lidelle, and Klug be sent back to our own world!"

Amitie, Lidelle, and Daxter: "Let's get the heck in there and help Raffina!"

Daxter: "C'mon Jak, lead the charge!"

Jak nodded firmly and the group went into Spider Cave to help Raffina in her time of need. It took a while, but they found her sitting by the yellow eco vent that's close to the gnawing lurkers and such.

Raffina: "About time! Where were you all?!"

Amitie: "We were trying to get through this place to find you, Raffina; don't get mad at us!"

Raffina: "...! … Yeah, you're right. I'm sorry, guys…"

Daxter: "It's all water under the bridge at this point, Raffina. And don't worry… your friends and Jak can all channel yellow eco, so this shouldn't take too long."

And after Daxter said that, Amitie smiled at Raffina.

Amitie: "And then, we can finish doing everything else here together. Does that sound good to you, Raffina?"

Raffina: "Y-yeah… Thanks."

Raffina smiled back and let the others take things from there. Amitie, Lidelle, and Jak all took in yellow eco from the vent and fired at the gnawing lurkers. Once one of them took out the last one, a power cell appeared in the middle of all that dark eco. Jak went to get it and Amitie decided to stick it to that dark eco crystal by firing at it. The dark eco crystal blew up and Jak grabbed the power cell from where it was. He pocketed it and met back up with the rest of the group. *power cell no. 101*

And then, Amitie got on the highest wooden pillar in the area, with the help of some floating platforms... and grabbed a loose power cell that was there. She quickly pocketed it, and glided to the others with her Puyo hat. *power cell no. 102* From there, everyone collected whatever Precursor orbs they could find and they freed three scout flies out of seven in Spider Cave. Eventually, they all came to an area that had another dark eco crystal floating about.

Daxter: "...! Look, there's another crystal!"

Amitie: "And there's some yellow eco here as well!"

Daxter: "Jak, fire away!"

Jak took in the nearby cluster of yellow eco and shot the dark eco crystal. The thing blew up and the gang moved further into the cave. This brought them to an entire area where everything was dark. They could hardly see anything!

Daxter: "Anyone have a light or something?"

Amitie, Raffina, and Lidelle: "Uh-uh."

The girl shook their heads and the whole group was unsure of what to do about this. About a minute later, though… Amitie got curious about something.

Amitie: "Hmm… What's this crystal here? I think it's green…?"

Amitie looked at it closely, then she decided to touch it. This caused the crystal to light up. The group noticed this right away as they looked at it.

Raffina: "Well I'll be… … It looks like there are a lot of other crystals here just like that. Let's touch them as we go along; that may help get through this area."

And with that, everyone went through that dark area. They took out spiders and collected more orbs as they progressed. They also avoided trapdoors in the latter half of the area. After those, the group saw a power cell glowing in the distance. They went up platforms to get to it and Raffina took it before pocketing it. *power cell no. 103* Then, everyone noticed a lift of sorts and got on it. The lift took them all down to solid ground and they ended up back in one of the areas with trampolines and dark eco.

Raffina: "Hmm… Let's go to this one wooden structure that I encountered, because I didn't actually explore much of it."

Daxter: "Wooden structure? Second? … Sure, lead us there."

Raffina nodded and she took the others to where this second wooden structure was. They looked at it and they all went up the ramp. This led to a drill lurker, which Raffina took out. From there, the group went around the first two levels of the structure and collected any loose orbs that were there. Then, Amitie and Jak went over to some yellow eco clusters and fired at some Precursor orb crates. Raffina was then able to get those orbs and Lidelle freed the fourth and fifth scout flies.

After that, the group went up to the higher levels and took down any drill lurkers that were , they collected more orbs as they avoided flamethrowers that were built on the floorboards. From there, Jak saw more orbs floating around a bunch of swinging poles. He went over there, collected them, and came back to the others. Raffina freed the sixth scout fly near the top, and everyone eventually made it to the top level of the wooden structure.

There, they all saw a power cell and Raffina jumped at it. She grabbed and held it high with a proud stance. After that, she pocketed it and Amitie saw something across a gap from the top. *power cell no. 104*

Amitie: "...! There's another power cell by that thing!"

Raffina: "It's next to that inactive blue eco platform… How are we going to get to it?"

Amitie: "Maybe I can get there with my Puyo hat!"

Raffina: "Uh, I don't know about that, Amitie… You can't jump as high as me or Jak, and that gap seems a little too big for you to cross with that."

Lidelle: "Th-there has to be a way… I see another one of those blue eco platforms somewhere before that one."

Daxter: "Then let's find it already! Remember, we still have to take out those dark eco crystals."

The whole group nodded and they rushed to find a way to get up to where that power cell was at. As they did so, they freed the sixth scout fly. Soon after that, they all noticed a bunch of loose Precursor orbs around a bunch of swinging poles, along with…

Amitie: "*gasp* Blue eco!"

Raffina: "And there's lots of it, too!"

Daxter: "And is that a blue eco platform I see next to those poles? Alright Jak, you know what to do!"

And so, Jak made his way to the swinging poles and began to traverse them to reach the several blue clusters, as well as those Precursor orbs. He took the blue eco in and the orbs were all attracted to him as he approached them. Then, he swung over to one of the blue eco platforms and activated it with his charge of the stuff. With that, he was taken straight to the power cell and he grabbed it. He and Daxter danced a bit before the former pocketed it. *power cell no. 105* After that, Jak met back up with the others at the bottom of the wooden structure. There, they talked for a bit.

Amitie: "Alright, so where can we find another dark eco crystal around here? I felt like we've looked everywhere in this cave…"

Lidelle: "I-I don't know…"

Raffina: "Well, as long as there's at least one of thoses… It'll probably be enough to cause major destruction if the lurkers get their hands on it."

Daxter: "Oh, if only there was a way to find it!"

The group thought about it for a little while, and then… Raffina came up with something.

Raffina: "Hey, we didn't really look around that dark area… maybe there was a dark eco crystal in there?"

Lidelle: "A-and, maybe there was one other scout fly in there as well…"

Daxter: "Well, it's worth a shot… Why not? It'll be better than standing around here."

Amitie: "Then let's go!"

Everyone returned to that dark area of the cave, and guess what? They DID miss a dark eco crystal that was there. One was submerged in a pool of water when they finally found it.

Amitie: "There it is! It's in the water!"

Raffina: "Geez, finally…"

Lidelle: "B-but, who's going to swim down to it?"

Raffina: "Hmm… I don't know about you, but I don't want to get my clothes wet."

Amitie: "I-I don't think I have the guts to go down there and smack it."

Lidelle: "I-I don't think I do, either…"

Raffina: "Urgh… Jak, can you do it?"

Jak nodded and he dived into the water, with Daxter holding on to his shoulder. Jak smacked the crystal a bit and it started to blink. And then…

Raffina: "Jak, get out of there!"

Seeing Raffina making some sudden motions above him, Jak swam away from the crystal with such speed. The crystal blew up as he and Daxter made it back safe. And then, a power cell appeared from where the crystal was and it shot up to the group's location.

Daxter: "*pant* Hey, I think that was the last of those dark eco crystals, guys!"

Raffina: "So it would seem…"

Jak then got out of the water and walked up to the power cell. He grabbed it and soon pocketed it after the others cheered for him. *power cell no. 106 And then…

Raffina: "Good. So I guess that means we just have that one scout fly left to find… Question is: Where is it? We still didn't see one around here."

Amitie: "We haven't gone through this area the whole way through this time; there's still a chance that the scout fly is here!"

Everyone then got back to the main path of the dark area. It took some time, but someone in the group found something…

Lidelle: "H-hey, is that…?"

Raffina: "Hmm? … What?! It was right here this whole time?! How did we miss it?!"

Amitie and Daxter: "I dunno."

Raffina: "*sigh* Regardless, we finally found it… as well as some Precursor orbs. Let's get them."

Raffina got the orbs and Jak freed the scout fly, which made two power cells appear. One landed in Raffina's hands, and the other landed in Jak's. The two showed off a little together and grinned before pocketing the power cells. *power cell numbers 107 and 108*

Raffina: "Alright, I think that's everything in this stupid cave… Let's go back to the Volcanic Crater."

The others nodded as Raffina said that and everyone made the long trip back…


Author's Note: Hoo boy, that was a long chapter. Originally, I was going to separate Spider Cave and Snowy Mountain into two chapters. However, when I decided that Raffina would be the one to go into Spider Cave by herself, and made the others go to Snowy Mountain around the same timeframe… I had to combine the two areas into one long chapter. And that probably made you guys wonder why I decided to make that decision in the first place. Well… I wanted Raffina's ability to break boulders to come up a bit more before the final location, and I KNEW that Spider Cave was the perfect place in the late game to have her break a couple of boulders. That's mainly why I decided to have Raffina go and explore Spider Cave on her own for a while.

There's also the fact that the flut flut was in Snowy Mountain and Raffina can't really ride the flut flut anyway, due to the bit of reasoning that I had in the Author's Notes section of the Puyo Puyo and the Precursor Legacy Character Movesets, Abilities, and Restrictions List (which you can find between Chapter 7 and Chapter 8, in case any of you missed it). Regardless, this was how I decided to do things here. If you don't like it, then I understand. After all, this might not be THE best way to cover Spider Cave and Snow Mountain… Even still though, I went with the decision to cover both locations in this chapter because I personally thought that it would've been for the best.

As for the collectibles: Since there were two large locations covered in this chapter, I'll go through their separate totals here before moving on to the total amounts of the collectibles overall. Spider Cave had a total of 11 power cells, seven scout flies, and 250 Precursor orbs. And Snowy Mountain had a total of 11 power cells, seven scout flies, and a WHOPPING 300 Precursor orbs. YEAH. I jacked up the number of orbs in that mountain BIG TIME. Anyway, our heroes have so far collected a total of 108 power cells, 98 scout flies, and 2200 Precursor orbs. With that in mind… the end is coming soon, guys. The group is about to make some final preparations, and then someone is going to have to go through the Lava Tube to get to Gol and Maia's citadel. And how will the rest of the group get to the citadel? Chapter 10: Final Preparations and Lava Tube.