Chapter 11: Gol and Maia's Citadel
As the group entered the citadel, they saw something massive that was towering above them.
Amitie: "What the heck is THAT?!"
Raffina: "I-I don't know, Amitie…"
Suddenly, Samos appeared in a cage above the group and said something.
Samos: "Children, that's a Precursor robot!"
Amitie, Raffina, and Lidelle: "P-Precursor robot?!"
Samos: "Yes, what you see there is a Precursor robot! Anyway, it's about time you all decided to show up!"
Daxter: "Oh, so are they having you mop the floors here now?"
Samos: "There's no time for jokes, Daxter! Gol and Maia kidnapped us to sap our energies to power their abominable machine! It appears they have combined the functional remains of that Precursor robot with scavenged artifacts from across the land. Then they added a few diabolical additions of their own, creating the one thing capable of opening the dark eco silos! If you can free the four of us, we can use our combined powers to break the force shield surrounding the robot before they use it to destroy the world! Hurry, children!"
Samos' cage was then raised higher in the air and the girls called out to the green sage.
Amitie, Raffina, and Lidelle: "Samos!"
Then, the communicator appeared to the group and Klug's voice came from it.
Klug: "Everyone, it's me, Klug! Keira and I have taken a look at this place from the communicator, and we have devised a plan for you all to quickly save the sages! You see those four paths in front of you? They all lead up to one of the sages, and thankfully, they're color-coded. For example: The blue path leads to where the blue sage is and it's full of blue eco."
Raffina: "So, that would mean that Samos is at the end of the green path…"
Klug: "Exactly! And that path is full of green eco. And as for the other two: Well, you should know the rest… Oh-! And all of the paths meet up at one point."
Daxter: "Hey, I see where they reconnect! It's a bit far from here, but it's definitely visible!"
After Daxter said that, Keira's voice came through the communicator.
Keira: "Yep! Anyway, we chose the paths for you guys to take to each of the sages. Jak, you and Daxter will go through the blue path to reach the blue sage. Amitie, you'll go through the yellow path and get to where the yellow sage is at. Raffina, you're going to go through the red path to reach the red sage. And Lidelle, you'll go up the green path and get to the top of it where my father is trapped. Does that sound good to you all?"
Amite, Raffina, Lidelle, and Daxter: "Yeah!"
Keira: "Good! Now hurry up and free all the sages before it's too late!"
The communicator disappeared and the group nodded to each other. After that, they all went through their designated paths. And so, Jak began doing whatever he could to reach the blue sage. He walked through the blue path, jumping over hazards of all kinds and taking down lurkers. Then, he started to swing on a series of poles to get to another part of the path. It was all simple stuff before the path began to twist into a helix. This helix was similar to what was at the end of the lost Precursor city.
The path had twisted itself into a full-on spiral ramp. Jak needed to take in clusters of blue eco and have himself go to higher sections of the ramp with blue eco launchers. As he did this, he got quite a number of Precursor orbs. Jak also freed the first scout fly just before he reached the top. And at the top, was a large arena that had tons of lurkers inside. The blue sage was trapped on the other side of it all. Daxter looked at the arena and groaned.
Daxter: "Ugh… Do we really have to beat up all of those lurkers just to get to him? *sigh* Alright, let's just get this over with…"
Jak rolled right into the arena and went through the arduous process of taking down each and every single lurker in there. He got hit a couple of times, but he was able to defeat all of the lurkers. And so… a power appeared in Jak's hand and he pocketed it. *power cell no. 115*
Blue Sage: "Hey, uh… Could you maybe break that device right there? It's locking me in here."
Jak immediately broke the machine with a spin kick and the cage that was trapping the blue sage opened its door. A power cell emerged from the wrecked machine and landed near Jak's feet. He picked it up and quickly pocketed it. *power cell no. 116*
Blue Sage: "Good work, fellows! You've managed to free me from that dreaded cage! ... Great piles of Precursor metal! That insidious mechanical creation must NOT be allowed to wreak its terrible havoc! I will try to actuate the shield door by eliciting a conduit of energy between myself and the vast portal below!"
Daxter: "Uh, yeah. You do that. We uh… have to get going now. ... Weirdo!"
As Daxter said that last bit, Jak made a strange face. Then, Jak continued to go through the blue path to meet up with the others. Meanwhile… Amitie was going through the yellow path and she was just starting to fire at several Precursor orb crates with clusters of yellow eco. Once she got all of the orbs that were inside those crates, she walked forward and encountered a large gap with a fan floating near her side of the gap. Seeing that, she had an idea...
Amitie: "Ooh, ooh! I think I know what to do!"
Amitie jumped over to the fan and quickly took off her hat. From there, she glided over to the fan and was now above it. Then, she started to be lifted higher into the air. This continued until Amitie couldn't go any higher and she decided to glide to the other side of that gap. Even for how high in the air she was when starting to glide, she barely made it to the other side. After landing, Amitie walked forward and grabbed a power cell that was just hovering about. She made a peace sign, then pocketed it. *power cell no. 117*
After that, she jumped on some platforms that were up ahead. On one of them, was the second scout fly. Amitie freed it, and upon hopping to the final platform, she saw what looked like the yellow sage. He was being trapped in a cage and a bunch of flying lurkers were guarding the cage. The yellow sage noticed her and…
Yellow Sage: "Hey! Help me out, will you?"
Amitie: "D-don't worry, I'll get you out of there!"
Amitie then came up to the area that had all of those flying lurkers. They didn't attack her, but they were blocking the way to the machine that kept the cage locked, like some wall. There was also a cluster of yellow eco behind a couple of regular lurkers. Amitie took those two down and took in the yellow eco. Then…
Amitie: "Alright, taaake this! HAH!"
Amitie fired a charged shot at the flying lurkers. The shot itself was powerful enough to take down all of them and it cleared the way to that machine. This made a power cell appear next to Amitie. She picked it up, did a silly dance, then pocketed it. *power cell no. 118*
Amitie: "Hmm… Something tells me I have to break that thing."
Amitie took in a cluster of yellow eco that just appeared and fired at the machine. After doing so, the machine broke and the cage opened up, freeing the yellow sage. Also another power cell shot from the machine and landed in Amitie's hand. As soon as it did, she pocketed it. *power cell no. 119*
Yellow Sage: "Who would've thought I'd live to see the day when I needed to be rescued by a girl wearin' such a strange and silly hat! *sigh* I'm gonna give Gol and Maia a little payback for this embarrassment! Oh, and that move you did with yellow eco… I have to admit: That was mighty impressive, lass."
Amitie: "Oh-! Uh, thanks!"
Amitie was happy to hear that the expert of yellow eco was impressed with her charged up fireball. And because of that, she smiled warmly.
Yellow Sage: "Anyway, I'm gonna start shootin' at this thing here! It's the best way for me to give Gol and Maia a taste of their own medicine!"
Amitie: "Okay! I have to meet up with my friends anyway. So, bye!"
Amitie waved to him and she continued to go through the yellow path. Meanwhile… Raffina was going through the long and difficult red path. This path had a lot of bone armor lurkers, and those were tougher than the standard lurkers. At one point, Raffina ran into a boulder that was blocking the way forward. Next to it, was a cluster of red eco. Her body took it in and she shattered the boulder by kicking it really hard. From there, Raffina was able to continue and fight more of those bone armor lurkers. After a little bit, she saw a platform off to her left. On this platform were three things: The third scout fly, a cluster of red eco, and another boulder. Raffina decided to jump over to it, free the scout fly, and then…
Raffina: "I have a pretty good idea what's hidden in this boulder…"
After saying that, she took in the cluster of red eco and shattered the boulder. This caused a power cell to appear where the boulder once was and Raffina smirked.
Raffina: "Just as I thought; a power cell!"
She grabbed the power cell and laughed for a bit before pocketing it. *power cell no. 120* And then, Raffina jumped back to the red path and continued going through it. She took down some regular lurkers, and eventually came to a gauntlet full of traps and bone armored lurkers. There were also some clusters of red eco there as well. And on the other side of that gauntlet was the red sage, trapped in a cage. When Raffina saw this, she shook a little.
Raffina: "Oh, I KNOW that this is going to hurt… But I have to get to the red sage and free him!"
After she said, she went through the gauntlet. Raffina got hit a couple of times as she attacked the lurkers. As for the traps, they weren't too difficult to avoid on their own. Eventually, Rafffina made it to the end and came up to a loose power cell. She picked it up and threw one of her fists into the air. After doing that, she pocketed the power cell. *power cell no. 121* And then…
Red Sage: "So, someone has finally come to rescue me... Do you know how long I've been in this cage? What took you so long?"
As the red sage said that, Raffina became somewhat irritated.
Raffina: "This path getting up to you; that's what took so long. It was full of tough lurkers and stuff… I can't control that!"
Red Sage: "Fair enough. I can tell that you are exhausted and hurt after coming to my aid. Anyway, could you break that machine there? It's keeping me locked in this cage."
Raffina: "*sigh* Okay… Hah!"
Raffina punched the machine and it broke, causing the cage's door to open. This made a power cell appear in Raffina's hands, which she immediately pocketed. *power cell no. 122* And then, the red sage got out and…
Red Sage: "Excellent. You really know how to fight, young lady. So uh, what is your name?"
Raffina: "Raffina."
Red Sage: "Thank you, Raffina; you're a real hero. Getting past that, though... you've got to stop Gol from launching the robot. I'll use my eco power to help open the shield door."
Raffina: "Uh yeah, you do that. I'll just continue going through this path, like a responsible person."
And so, Raffina continued to go through the red path to meet up with the others. Meanwhile… Lidelle was doing a good number of things in the green path. She took down a couple of flying lurkers with a lone cluster of yellow eco… She got to higher parts of the path by using a cluster of blue eco to jump from a couple of blue eco launchers… And she had to deal with quite a number of lurkers along the way. Thankfully, since there was a lot of green eco scattered about in the green path… Lidelle didn't have to worry about dying. At one point, she saw something over to her right. There, a little side area could be seen beyond a short gap. Vines were on the wall of this area and there was also a narrow passageway of sorts nearby.
Lidelle: "Vines… I wonder if there's anything up there."
Lidelle decided to spin jump to the little area and scaled the vines to where they led. When she got to the top of the vines, she found the fourth scout fly. She freed it and went back down the vines. From there, she noticed the narrow passageway and crawled through it, collecting Precursor orbs in the process. At the end of it, she found a power cell.
Lidelle: "There it is…!"
Lidelle smiled, grabbed the power cell, quickly pocketed it. *power cell no. 123* Then, she left the passageway and got back to the green path to continue. Eventually she saw Samos off in the distance, and…
Lidelle: "S-Samos…! Oh no, he's being guarded by all those lurkers! Wh-what do I do…?"
As Lidelle said that, Samos threw his voice out to her.
Samos: "Lidelle! You have to free me, no matter what! I can understand that you're scared… but you need to get me! You and your friends need to save this world from Gol and Maia!"
Lidelle: "...! … Samos is counting on me and my friends… … I can't just stand here… … I have to rescue him to save this world!"
Lidelle might have still been scared, but she knew that she couldn't cower in fear at a time like this. She needed to stand her ground and save Samos. And so, Lidelle charged in and did all she could to take down the lurkers that guarded the green sage with her sweater sleeves. There were regular lurkers, and there were also some bone armor lurkers as well. Lidelle had no yellow eco to help her fight, but she was still determined to take down every single one of those lurkers. She got hit once, then twice… but even still, she carried on. This lasted until she finally defeated the last lurker. A power cell came from where the lurker once stood. Lidelle grabbed it as she smiled and quickly pocketed it. *power cell no. 124*
Samos: "Well done, Lidelle! Now, free me from this cage by breaking that machine you see in front of you. Hurry!"
Lidelle: "O-okay!"
Lidelle smacked the machine and it broke down, causing another power cell to land in her sweater sleeves. Lidelle immediately pocketed it as the door of Samos' cage opened. *power cell no. 125* The green sage got out and spoke once again.
Samos: "Good work! Anyway, I see that the other three sages have been freed. I'll combine my green eco power with them, and together, we'll open the shield door surrounding the Precursor robot! Lidelle, I also see that the others are about to meet up over there. Get going and destroy the robot before it's too late!"
Lidelle: "R-right!"
Lidelle nodded and continued to go through the green path to meet up with the others Eventually everyone in the group arrived at the area where the four colored-coded paths meet up and saw each other.
Amitie: "...! Guys!"
Lidelle: "A-Amitie!"
Daxter: "Well, isn't that just peachy… We all somehow managed to get to this area at the same time…"
Raffina: "*pant*"
Daxter: "Woah! What happened to you, Raffina?"
Raffina: "*pant* I really… don't want to talk about it… … Anyway, what matters is that we have rescued all four of the sages…"
Lidelle: "S-Samos told me that we have to destroy the Precursor robot before-"
But, before Lidelle could finish her statement... Gol and Maia appeared before the group, floating in the air.
Gol: "You're too late, children! Once I possess limitless dark eco, I will have the key to creation itself!"
As Gol said that, Samos threw his voice out.
Samos: "This is madness! Releasing that much dark eco will destroy everything we know! Just look at what it's done to you!"
Maia: "It has given us a beauty beyond anything you could understand!"
Raffina: "Beauty?!"
Daxter: "Are you serious?! Have you two looked in the MIRROR lately?!"
Maia: "Just wait until we open the silos, little one. You think short and fuzzy is bad."
Gol: "And to think, you all have traveled such a great distance for my help... Every single one of you is a fool!"
Raffina: "Hey, how do you know that we needed your help?! We never told you!"
Gol: "No… but we did overhear you all talking about your troubles as we left the red sage's lab. In any case, we don't have the time or desire to help you!"
Raffina: "Wh-why you…!"
Raffina was about to go ballistic, but the others began to hold her in place.
Jak: "Hrgh-!"
Amitie: "Raffina, calm down...! We'll take them down together!"
Lidelle: "S-so please... stop yourself before you get hurt!"
After hearing Amitie and Lidelle say those things to her, Raffina stopped.
Raffina: "*growls* Fine."
Gol: "Enough! I think it's about time for the final part of our plan to begin! Enjoy your personal front-row seats and watch as we recreate the world!"
After Gol exclaimed that, he and Maia entered the Precursor robot and it started to rise above the citadel. As this happened, Samos came to the group and said…
Samos: "Everyone, take the elevator up and stop that robot at all costs!"
Daxter: "You don't have to tell us twice!"
Amitie: "Don't worry, Samos, we'll stop Gol and Maia!"
Lidelle: "And we'll do it together…"
Raffina: "Alright, guys… let's get the heck up there and destroy that robot!"
The group then took off for the elevator and went through a lengthy straight path to get there. Along the way, they dealt with lurkers of all shapes and sizes. Near the end of the path, were the rest of the Precursor orbs of the citadel, as well as the remaining scout flies. And in the elevator itself… was a power cell. Everyone noticed all of those and ran up to them. First, they went to the scout flies, and after freeing the last one… a power cell landed in front of them. Lidelle grabbed it and quickly pocketed it. *power cell no. 126*
Then, they collected all of the Precursor orbs there and another power cell appeared in Raffina's hands, which she then pocketed. *power cell no. 127* And last, but not least… the group got into the giant elevator and Amitie grabbed the power cell. Everyone did one final dance together before Amitie pocketed it. *power cell no. 128* After that was done, Jak pressed the button in the middle of the elevator… and the thing started to move up. When the group arrived at the top, they got out and they noticed that they were outside.
Raffina: "We're… outside now?"
Daxter: "Looks like it. … Hey, look over there! The robot is firing something at the silo below!"
Raffina: "Crap, the silo is beginning to open!"
Amitie: "W-we need to stop it!"
Lidelle: "Guys, there's a vent that's releasing green eco…! We should go through it before we go down there."
Daxter: "Eh, well… better to be safe than sorry."
Everyone went through the green eco vent and they were fully healed. Then, as they approached the edge of what they were standing on… they saw a wide blue eco platform, and a cluster of blue eco.
Daxter: "Jak, channel the blue eco through your body and activate that platform!"
Jak went up to the blue eco and took it in. And then, the platform activated.
Raffina: "Alright, let's get on that platform, guys!"
The group all jumped on the platform and they were sent over to that silo. On the silo, there were quite a few clusters of green and yellow floating about. There was also a blue eco vent, and a blue eco launcher on opposite sides of the silo. Everyone jumped off the platform and landed on the silo itself. And then…
Gol: "Ah-hahahahahaha!"
Amitie: "...! Yellow eco! Lidelle, Jak! Help me shoot that robot!"
Lidelle: "O-okay!"
Jak nodded, and the three took in clusters of yellow eco. Then, they started to shoot at the robot. And as for Raffina, she cheered them on…
Raffina: "Go, guys, go!"
And as the Precursor robot was getting hit with the fireballs, Gol and Maia screamed.
Gol and Maia: "Aaaaugh!"
Amitie: "Hey, it's working! Let's keep at it!"
Amitie, Lidelle, and Jak continued to shoot at the robot until a bit of it exploded…
Gol: "Aaaaugh! You brats will pay for this! Maia, fire one of the other weapons!"
Maia: "Yes, of course! Hah! Eco won't protect you children now!"
A bomb was launched from the back of the Precursor robot and it stopped at the middle of the silo. Then, clusters of yellow eco stopped appearing.
Amitie: "W-what's happening?! What is that thing?!"
Daxter: "I-I think we all need to get some blue eco and fly!"
Raffina: "Why?"
Daxter: "Because, I think that THING is about to blow up!"
Amitie, Raffina, and Lidelle: "B-blow up?!"
The group rushed over to the clusters of blue eco. They each went through the blue eco vent and collectively took off from the blue eco launcher as the bomb exploded from below.
Amitie, Raffina, Lidelle, and Daxter: "WOAH!"
Then, the group fell and landed back on the silo… and Gol spoke for a bit.
Gol: "None of you want to give up, huh? Very well, then… Let's see how you handle this!"
The Precursor robot then fired green-colored blasts at the dark eco inside the silo. After it did that, several strange, dark-colored creatures came out of the silo… and clusters of yellow and red eco appeared around the silo.
Amitie: "W-WHAT THE HECK ARE THOSE?!"
Raffina: "There's no time for us to panic here; we need to take them out! Amitie, Lidelle: Keep shooting at that robot! I'll handle those guys with the help of red eco…"
Daxter: "Not without us! Come on, Jak! Let's bring the smackdown on those things!"
And so, Raffina and Jak fought off the strange creatures with red eco… and Amitie and Lidelle kept shooting at the robot. All the while, Gol and Maia kept screaming in pain. Then, after all of the strange creatures were defeated…
Gol: "Aaaaugh! That dark eco WILL be ours!"
Maia: "So here's another present from us!"
The Precursor robot launched another bomb and it ended up at the middle of the silo. This made the group panic and get onto the blue eco launcher with blue eco. And then, they shot themselves into the air and the bomb exploded. They fell back to the silo and noticed that something was different.
Raffina: "Hey, is it just me, or is the silo opening up even more now?"
Lidelle: "I-I think it is… We need to hurry!"
As Lidelle said that, the Precursor robot launched five red-colored orbs onto the surface of the silo. For a second or two, they did nothing… but then they exploded, one after another. This created a series of shockwaves and everyone had to jump over them.
Raffina: "...! Guys, jump!"
The whole group jumped over each shockwave that came in, and more yellow eco appeared.
Raffina: "Guys, fire at that cannon-like arm that shot out those red orbs!"
Amitie, Lidelle, Daxter: "Got it!"
Daxter: "Let's go, Jak!"
Amitie, Lidelle, and Jak took into more yellow eco and fired at the cannon-arm thingy. As that happened, Gol and Maia screamed in pain again. This went on for a bit until the cannon exploded. Then, the Precursor robot launched another bomb at the middle of the silo. Seeing this, the group rushed to the blue eco vent and got to the blue eco launcher. They then launched themselves into the air and the bomb exploded. After the group landed back on the silo, they saw that it opened up even more than it did before.
Raffina: "Crap…! It's getting worse!"
As Raffina said that, the robot charged up a cannon that was on its other arm.
Daxter: "Shoot at that other cannon!"
Amitie, Lidelle, and Jak nodded, then they took in more yellow and started shooting at that cannon. The cannon itself fired a large orange-yellow blast at the group. They all barely dodged it and the aforementioned trio continued to fire at the cannon until it exploded.
Gol: "Aaaaugh!"
After Gol screamed… a green, blue, yellow, red beam all appeared from four pillars surrounding the silo and met at the middle, where they combined to make a cloud-like thing. The thing itself radiated the four colors, and Gol seemed to have realized what this stuff was.
Gol: "L-light eco…! It exists!"
Maia: "They must not be allowed to get it!"
Daxter: "Light eco?! That could be the stuff to change me back! Or... it might stop that robot. Stay fuzzy, or save the world. Choices. ... *growls* Okay, fine! We'll save the world. But do it quickly, before I change my mind!"
As Daxter said that last bit, the others smiled… and then the group glared at the robot. From there, the robot started to launch multiple bombs at the same time as light eco clusters dropped from the cloud.
Daxter: "...! Jak, get the light eco; you're the closest one to it!"
Jak rushed over to the light eco and the girls cheered him on.
Amitie, Raffina, and Lidelle: "Go, Jak, go!"
Gol: "Prepare to be des-"
Before Gol could finish what he was saying, Jak took in the light eco and…
Jak: "Hyah!"
Jak fired a white blast at the Precursor robot and completely destroyed its body, leaving the head to fall into the dark eco.
Gol: "Uwaaaaah!"
After Gol screamed for one final time, the silo closed back up and trapped the robot's head inside. And so, it was all over…
Author's Notes: Boy, oh boy! Our heroes have saved Jak's world from being destroyed by dark eco! But, we know that the story isn't over yet; there's still the epilogue to look forward to. And I can't wait to bring you guys the conclusion to this crossover story. For now though, I want to talk a little about how I handled not only Gol and Maia's citadel… but all of Precursor Legacy for this story. A lot of this followed the game's beat in terms of both dialogue and the characters exploring the various areas… but there were obvious differences all throughout. And just like what I said in the Author's Notes section for Chapter 10, Gol and Maia's citadel ended up being VERY different from how it actually is in the game.
I basically changed the entire structure of the citadel, not just because there were four characters to follow here… but also, there were those stupid colored tiles in the game where if you jumped on one of a specific color, then all tiles of that color would drop to the abyss below. I wanted to get rid of these because in the game, Precursor orbs often were above them and it made for some cheap deaths for regular players trying to get them… or even just trying to get past the tiles themselves. And considering that this was a crossover story version of Precursor Legacy… I couldn't have any of the characters die at one point or another. So that's why I got rid of the colored tiles, in case you guys were wondering.
Anyway, as for the rest of the areas: They remained mostly the same, just with extra power cells and Precursor orbs. And now that I'm almost done with this crossover story, I'm happy with how I handled the implementation of all-new power cells. Speaking of power cells… how about we go through the final tally of collectibles? Here are the final totals: 128 power cells, 112 scout flies, and 2500 Precursor orbs. So yeah, obviously more power cells and orbs than in the actual game. Though, the total amount scout flies in all stayed the exact same. Aside from that, the conclusion to this story is upon us… What will happen to Amitie and her friends now that Gol and Maia have been defeated? Next time on Puyo Puyo and the Precursor Legacy: Chapter 12: Epilogue.
