Part 2 of my final uploads for this story begins now.

The Precursor Core scene is finally here, starting with one of the most heartbreaking scenes ever made on Playstation.


Ch40: The Precursor Core

The impact from the explosion overturned the Dozer while knocking off one of its front wheels. The force of the blast also blew its passengers out of the now immobile vehicle. Witnessing the horrific aftermath, Spyro, Cynder, and Calidan raced to reach them hoping they were okay.

Jak stirred from his fall, and tried regaining his bearings despite the ringing in his ears. A few feet away Daxter was attempting the same while holding his head. Jak slowly took a few steps around the ruined Dozer as the others came in and landed behind him, relieved he and Daxter were okay. However that relief was short-lived, for on the other side of the overturned Dozer was Damas, pinned and apparently being crushed by the weight of the vehicle from his legs down.

"Damas!" shouted Jak running to his aid.

"No…" Cynder let out despairingly, as she and the others followed right behind the eco-human.

Feeling his last breaths, Damas said his final words to his friends, "not...bad driving kid. It was a good fight...cough...and a good day to die."

Jak held him in his arms as he slowly continued, "I'm very proud to have been by your side in the end...cough...this world is not yet out of heroes, and frankly, neither is the universe."

He addressed the full hero party by his side, Calidan and Sparx showing their horrid shock at the king dying before their eyes, while Spyro and Cynder struggled to keep themselves composed. Jak just shook his head, not willing to let the noble warrior go.

"We did well together," Jak told him.

Spyro barely managed to gasp out, "Damas...you can't..."

"At ease young Spyro, we all have our time, and mine is now...cough...though I can at least perform one last act of unity," he reached into his side bag and pulled out two amulet pieces, placing them at the purple dragon's feet with his fading strength.

"Calidan, you've earned your second battle amulet, my only regret is not seeing you earn your last," Damas gasped, making Calidan's composure start to crack, while still silent.

"Spyro, you have earned your full citizenship...cough...you are now the first dragon Spargus citizen in history," he said weakly. Spyro gave a nod of respect, while doing his best not to shed tears, something Cynder was sadly doing as her face grew wet with them.

"Though I've never met all of your mentors and sires, I'm sure they would be as proud of you as I am...agh," he groaned.

"Easy, don't move, well get you out, guys…" Damas grabbed Jak's arm before he could continue.

"Please...please just promise me one thing, promise me you will find my son, Mar."

"Mar?" Spyro said aloud, somewhat surprised he named his son after the legendary Elorin hero.

Cynder then asked while still distraught, "I thought you said…"

"I said I lost my son," Damas cut in, "I didn't say I lost him to death." He then reached into his other pocket bag and pulled out something familiar to all of them, an amulet shaped in the Seal of Mar.

"You'll know him when you see this...cough" he said dying as he placed the amulet in Jak's hand, "he's wearing an amulet, just like it, a symbol of our lineage with the great House of Mar."

Jak, Spyro, Cynder, Sparx and Daxter all wore looks of shock with what Damas described. They remembered the young version of Jak they had met one year ago wearing the same amulet! They all realized that the same boy they ferried into the past, was him!

"Cough!...save our people Jak...they need you…" Damas spoke his last words before succumbing to his injuries, closing his eyes as he drew his final breath. With that, the king of Spargus, former leader of Haven City, and the last descendant of Mar was gone. Or next to last…

Calidan took off his goggles while struggling to keep his composure while giving a bow in honor to the dead, something he remembered doing only once, 12 years ago. Sparx fluttering next to him was sniffing, and wore an expression of grief. Daxter for once was silent, and swallowed an uncomfortable lump of remorse. Spyro and Cynder were the most emotional, for if it weren't for the departed king, none of them would have been accepted in his kingdom, and this unofficial alliance wouldn't even exist. In a breaking voice, Cynder spoke to a now utterly stupefied Jak.

"Jak...that amulet...it was the same as the boy's," tears continued falling off her face as she continued, "does this mean...he was…"

"...my father," Jak finished, unable to process learning this secret from his past.

"Wait, WHAT?!" cried Calidan, not believing what he had just heard.

"Yes."

A sneering voice caused them to turn around, and standing between them and the catacomb entrance, as smug and arrogant as ever, was Veger! "You were that child."

"What?!" Cynder gasped, matching Calidan's shock, while the others were just stunned to see Veger here.

"I took you from Damas," Veger began to clarify, "hoping to harness your eco powers for my experiments, and then I lost you to the Underground, after the Baron's coup exiled the original king to the wasteland, separating you indefinitely."

Jak's expression turned from remorseful to vengeful, casting a hateful glare toward the former Count at his revelations. One Veger noticed all too plainly as he asked sadistically, "you seem upset, did I tell you too late? You were the son of the great warrior Damas, last descendant of Mar himself. Oh...and he never knew? How delightful."

Calidan put his goggles back on his head, all the while he, Sparx, Daxter and the dragons all cast hateful glares at him, this time Veger had crossed the final line! Cynder spat out, "you filthy little…"

"Aaaaagggghhhh! VEGER!" Dark Jak took a hold for a moment directing all his pent up rage at his present banisher and past kidnapper. The lightning that emitted from him caused the others to step back, deciding to let Jak's inner beast go crazy for once at this fanatic.

Veger merely held up his staff, not intimidated by the creature and said stoically, "now now, getting angry isn't going to bring your poor daddy back, not that it matters anyway."

Jak took a hold again as the purple hue faded, though he still hadn't lost any of his rage at Veger who continued, "now that the door to the precursors is open, thanks to you, the real cleansing can begin."

He gestured to the catacomb pit behind him and one of the vehicles that awaited, "don't worry, I'll be back to put all of you out of your misery." With that he rushed and jumped into the driver's seat of the closest vehicle and began his descent into the catacombs.

Daxter immediately jumped on Jak's shoulder and shouted, "AFTER HIM JAK!"

Jak was confused, "You're willing to go down there, without a fuss this time?"

"First Sparx and now you? What has gotten into you two?" questioned Cynder.

"Yeah, well don't get used to it! It's just nobody hurts my best friend, and lives to brag about it!" Daxter argued.

"Besides, everyones gotta grow up sometime right?" Sparx added with a confident nod. The two dragons and two humans took their comments with warm hearts, and solidified their resolve.

Daxter then said one more time, "let's get em!"

Jak led the rush to the other vehicle, and they piled in just like the last one they rode in. With a jolt of the wheel, he propelled it into the pit. The race to the Precursor Core was on.


This ride into the catacombs was similar to their last one through the subrails, only much more hazardous! The obstacles they ran into were almost doubled from before, between the protruding conduits, open holes, and the tunnel drones. Nonetheless, Jak's driving skills proved as attuned as ever, and they all breathed a sigh of relief when they entered a tunnel where all the obstacles had passed, and at the very end was...nothing?

The vehicle exited out of the tunnel, and into an area of pitch blackness. The loss of their visual surroundings stunned them momentarily, until a pulse of dim artificial blue light illuminated them. Jak, Calidan, the dragons and their sidekicks were speechless at what they were seeing. As the vehicle continued flying forward, they saw in front of them what appeared to be a giant series of spinning rings, similar to a gyroscope, only as big as a skyscraper is high. All around them, they noticed they were encased in a chamber similar to a Dyson sphere consisting of orange precursor workings. They could see tunnels all along the sphere, signifying what Veger had once said about how the tunnels were used by the precursors to build the world, all from this center complex of architectural wonder. They flew through the rings perimeter as they spun, surprisingly without being hit, and were approaching a platform that housed the Planetary Defense System.

"Ok, I stand corrected, now I've seen everything," Sparx whispered to Spyro. Spyro and Cynder could only grin at each other.

"It's...beautiful," Calidan said in astonishment. Jak and Daxter could only gape in wonder as he brought the vehicle in for a landing on the Defense System platform, where another Precursor statue awaited and came to life.

Greetings great heroes. Before it is too late, you must power up the planet's defense system.

Jak dismounted the vehicle and pulled out the fully charged Beam Generator given to him by Seem. His friends followed him from behind as he approached a small conduit column at the foot of the statue. It opened upon his approach, allowing him to place the sphere inside, and turn on the dual defense cannons. The heroes watched them open up channeling different eco energies, one colored purple on the right and one colored blue on the left, all while lifting up toward a large tunnel ahead of them.

The eco-sphere has begun its energy conversion, it will take some time for the weapon to fully charge.

Suddenly, a precursor spirit in the same human shape as the one the dragons remembered seeing one year ago appeared in front of them. It waved his hand ahead, allowing a column of blue light to descend from above and connect with the platform. It then spoke directly to Jak.

You have proven your worth warrior, we grant you the gift of evolution, the honor of becoming one of us.

Calidan and the dragons were speechless, they were about to witness a wonder unlike any other, the birth of a precursor. Jak couldn't fathom that they believed he was worthy, but having now realized his true lineage despite his misfortunes, accepted the gift. He closed his eyes as he prepared to make a step.

"Step aside!" Veger yelled while appearing from the other end of the platform and pointing a gun. "I will be the one who evolves into a precursor, THE RIGHT IS MINE!"

Everyone stepped up to block him, the former Count and his enemies on opposite sides of the light, though the precursor gave a warning getting their attention...

Be careful what you wish for.

Before anyone could stop him, Veger entered the light and allowed it to consume him. Jak and the others scowled, they couldn't believe out of all the people on this planet to become a precursor, it was this demented nut! Veger descended back to the ground as the light faded away, with a satisfied grin on his face.

"Agh, it is done. Don't worry Jak. It is for the greater good I assume this role," he said while pointing his gun at him.

"You wouldn't know the greater good if it kicked you in the head," Cynder spat at him.

"Now now, that's no way to talk to a superior lifeform scaly," he said, earning a hateful hiss from her. Everyone else was doing all they could to restrain themselves from putting him down together. However, the precursor spoke once more.

Even now it may be too late, if Errol and Malefor awaken the Dark Ships cargo, all will be lost.

Jak, Calidan and Spyro all looked at one another in speculation, all the while Daxter jumped down from Jak's shoulder to direct his frustration to the precursor, "listen glowman, we've been doing all your dirty work while you slept in the stars! So stuff it!"

Inefficient! I told you we needed a backup hero! We should have gone with Plan B! Ow! Hey! Cut it out!

The precursor was now starting to act strange, confusing them. Even more so, it looked like he was spazzing out arguing with himself. Suddenly, it disappeared, and a blinding glow from an opening door at the base of the statue made them shield their eyes. Oddly, they could still hear the precursor's voice as the light died down.

We are unhappy with your performance, if you had been a true hero, you would have stopped Errol by now!

The light from the statue room finally lifted, and the entire hero party and the former Count received the greatest shock of their lives. Standing in a small confined chamber surrounded by sophisticated precursor technology, were 3 small ottsels. Two typing on consoles and the one in between them talking in some sort of microphone, or they were before turning around to face them. Veger dropped his staff with a clunk, while off to his right in a line, Cynder, Spyro, Sparx, Daxter, Jak and Calidan were wide-eyed and gaping at what they were seeing, but refused to believe.

"Oh" started Calidan.

"My" followed Jak.

"God" finished Spyro.

The middle ottsel continued speaking into the microphone despite being exposed, the precursor voice coming out of it, Yes, well umm...now we are even more angry, and uh, we order you to avert your eyes, or we will ummm… "Oh bother," he finally threw it away, deciding enough was enough.

"Hamana...hamana...ba ba ba...ba ba ba" Sparx simply couldn't form words due to the shock.

"They're, but they're...Spyro they're," Cynder sputtered, turning to him.

"They look just like…" Spyro gasped while turning to the ground to look at the who in particular.

"They look like me!" Daxter yelped, finishing everyone's thoughts.

The ottsel leader in the middle finally spoke while he and his two counterparts approached the group in their hover platforms, "Yes, not what you expected."

"Yeah, we get that a lot," said the one to the right in an odd surfer accent.

Jak was rubbing his face while Calidan was heavily scratching the back of his head, both trying to recollect themselves. The ottsel leader noticed their discomfort, "don't look so upset, if you knew we precursors were a bunch of little fuzzy rats, would you worship us? Could we run the universe?"

"Not possible buddy," the ottsel surfer concluded. Veger's eye was twitching as he appeared to be on the brink of a complete breakdown.

The ottsel leader continued, "so we fluff up the myth, a bit."

"A BIT?!" asked a flabbergasted Cynder.

"Yup!" said the third ottsel on the left with a tone that lacked intelligence, "then we get the respect we deserve!"

"You idiots!" Veger yelled, before pointing his gun at the ottsel trio, "get down from there and stop defiling that glorious machine!"

ZAP!

Veger immediately found himself thrown back and suspended in the air within a circle of golden energy, completely immobile. The heroes looked at him stunned in surprise, before turning back to the ottsels who had trapped Veger with their powers. The ottsel leader spoke to the group, "do not let our size fool you. We are the most powerful beings in the universe."

"You are?" Cynder asked questionly.

"We are?!" the ottsel dummy excitedly asked, prompting the other two to shush him immediately, as if they knew something he didn't.

Getting back to the present topic Jak had to ask, "why does Daxter look like?..." he gestured to his buddy standing in the center of the hero party.

"Ah yes, all eco contains the source of our essence. Our code, so to speak. When Daxter touched the Dark eco, he was actually blessed when he thought he was cursed," the ottsel leader verified.

Hearing this, Daxter couldn't help but be overjoyed as he whooped in a jump, "WOOHOO! I'm a precursor!"

"I'm a precursor...I'm a precursor..." he danced around in front of the crowd while his friends stood there completely baffled.

"Unbelievable," Calidan gasped.

"Jak," Spyro turned to his human friend curious and surprised, "since when did Daxter ever touch dark eco?"

"Long story, I'll tell you later," he groaned feeling a bit sheepish as the memory of how his first adventure began came back to haunt him, in more ways than one in this case.

"Cynder," Sparx said unemotionally while fluttering close to the dragoness' head as he continued watching Daxter dance around celebrating his new surprising 'divinity'.

"Yes?" she asked him impassively.

"You know before how you were always making those idle threats about shutting me up?"

"Yes," she replied, just before Sparx grabbed her face with both hands and begged.

"Can you put me out of my misery and do it now?!"

"HEY!" Daxter's sudden shout ceased their activities as he glared at the precursor trio, "Wait a minute! They have pants!" That caused the three of them to look at themselves while Daxter's friends breathed exhaustively.

"You're joking!" shouted Veger, getting the attention again, "these creatures are the great precursors?! Huff...and I wanted to evolve into them...NO! NOOOoooo"

What was given couldn't be taken back, as the true nature of Veger's new evolution finally took effect, turning him into an ottsel before their very eyes. He was the same size as Daxter now, and was still wearing a remnant of his old suit and cravat now altered to his size. Of course his pants were now gone, with his new furry tail in place of them.

"What do you know? He was right, it was for the greater good," Calidan remarked with a cheeky grin. Jak matched it with a grin of his own towards the former human Count, crossing his arms with a satisfied look in his eye that Veger took the bullet meant for him, figuratively.

"For once the bad guy got what he wanted, and I couldn't be happier," Spyro said with a wisecracking tone, making Cynder giggle next to him.

Veger looked down at his new form completely dismayed, especially at his new furry legs and tail. Just in front of him stood Daxter with Sparx fluttering next to him. The two of them couldn't resist mocking Veger like this.

"Yeah, a little drafty, isn't it?" Daxter asked with Sparx giving him the 'loser' sign with his right hand while smirking.

The ottsel leader turned their attention back to the matter at hand, "the only way to ensure Errol and Malefor won't awaken the ships cargo, is for you all to go there yourselves and stop them. We can send you there from here."

The hero party turned from the ottsels to the blinding light behind them. The gyroscope-like mechanism near the core entrance was glowing, signifying the opening of a portal to a destination of the precursor's choosing. This time, it was to the Dark Ship.

"Wait," Calidan began, "you're sending us up there? right now? Aren't we forgetting something?!" he gestured to the charging cannon to his right.

"He's right, the weapon," Jak said, gesturing to the one on the left.

"Chill out dudes," replied the ottsel surfer, "you should have mondo minutes to go there and get back here pronto! Way before…"

"Hopefully before…"continued the ottsel leader.

"BABOOM! Haha oh yeah!" The ottsel dummy finished.

"Why does that not comfort me?" Sparx asked dismally.

Everyone paid him no mind as Jak gave out a command as both a leader and friend, "Let's move!"

He ran ahead with Daxter and jumped over the platform into the blinding portal, with Calidan right behind him, followed by Spyro, then Cynder, and Sparx who hitched a ride with the latter. The ottsel dummy waved them goodbye as the ottsel leader voiced his frustrations to his compatriots.

"You idiots! I told you we needed a plan B!"


To anthonyluetmer1: I hope you enjoyed their combined reactions, I honestly don't think anyone could have imagined it better!

Also, if any thought that Damas would live, sorry. But him surviving wouldn't have fit in with my continuation, none the less I tried to make his last moments as noble as possible in respect for the character Naughty Dog had created, befitting any great human leader we've had throughout non-fiction history.