Can we just imagine here please, that even though this is set some time between Jak 2 and 3, that Jak has the wave concusser, because none of the guns in Jak 2 could have taken out that many metal heads at once. Please just keep this in mind.
He expected to find blood running over his fingers, but all that there was there was a small hole burnt through his shirt, and the glowing ball, pressed against his skin. Pulling at the cloth, he tore his shirt so he could examine the damage. In the corners of his eyes, he could see the Metal Heads backing away.
"Damn." He muttered the side of his hand caught the area around the ball, where he could feel bruises rising. Jak closed his fingers over the ball, and tugged. Hard. It was all he could do not to yelp with pain, not only was the glowing ball firmly fused to his skin, when he pulled it, it glowed white hot, burning his fingers and his chest. He looked up at the pack leader, glaring. "What have you done?" He growled through gritted teeth, as the shock subsided and he began to feel the livid bruises around the orb, and, he suspected, a couple of broken ribs. But the pack leader only laughed at him, a laugh that quickly turned into a howl of triumph, which was soon taken up by the rest of the pack. But their euphoria was short-lived, unnoticed to them, Jak had climbed to his feet, and was, at that second, charging the Wave Concusser, the sound drowned out by the noise the Metal Heads were making. As the pack leader realise what he was up to, Jak looked up at him, and smiled. He released the trigger. A wave of energy rippled out from the gun, with Jak at the centre, killing the Metal Heads it passed over, and scattering the rest. But they had done their job, and did not return.
Panting, Jak stood among the dead creatures. Now the danger had passed, he turned his attention to the glowing sphere attached to his chest, which had now begun to pulse angrily, aggravating the aching bruises. Jak was utterly mystified – he had never seen, or heard about anything like this before, and the strange thing was, apart from the initial impact and the burns, it didn't seem to be doing him any harm…!
A sudden voice brought him out of his reverie. "Er…Jak? We have a problem. A veeeery BIG problem. Namely, THERE IS NO ARTIFACT UP HERE!" Suddenly remembering why they were there in the first place, Jak looked up towards Daxter – trying no to let his anxiety over the mysterious ball show on his face. He needn't have bothered, Daxter hadn't seen any of the encounter with the Metal Heads, and he assumed, being so close to the city wall that the sounds had come from outside it.
"What?!" He yelled back to Daxter in disbelief, unable to believe what he hoped Daxter hadn't just said.
Daxter scrambled half way down the heap, then slid the rest of the way on a strip of shale. He came to a rather ungainly halt at Jak's feet. Looking up at him, Daxter said: "Like I said, there's no artefact up there. C'mon, let's get back so I can give Torn a good kick up the…" He never got to tell Jak just where exactly he would like to kick Torn, for at that moment, he tripped over the tail of one of the Metal Heads Jak had killed, and skidded spectacularly along on his chin for a couple of feet. He sat up, massaging his neck, and pointed accusingly at Jak, "I just can't leave you alone for five minutes can I?" He stood up, and flicked some dirt off his tail. "Where did this lot come from? I thought Torn said…." But again, Daxter was cut short.
Jak dropped his gun with a clatter. He doubled over gasping with pain, his fingers scrabbling at his chest, every one soon burnt red and blistered. "JAK!" Yelped Daxter, sprinting towards his friend. But Jak pushed him away. "Dax!" He exclaimed. "Get back, argh, no Daxter, get back" The sphere on his front was burning red hot again, scorching his chest and blistering his fingers as he tried in vain to remove it. Daxter stood helplessly as Jak struggled, his every attempt to help swatted away by Jak. He looked around frantically for the communicator, but he couldn't see it anywhere – they must have dropped it…
But even as Daxter watched, something seemed to be happening. From his low vantage point, Daxter could see the little, innocent looking orb through Jak's scrabbling fingers; cracks seemed to have appeared in its surface, showing an even brighter core. Daxter gasped and backed away frantically – white, dusty looking smoke was seeping through the cracks, engulfing Jak.
Jak saw the smoke creeping out of the tiny sphere. He redoubled his attempts to remove it, but to no avail – every time his fingers closed around it, it glower hotter and hotter, forcing him to let go. He tried to hold his breath and head for cleaner air, but the gas was everywhere; he couldn't escape it clutches. So, finally, when he couldn't stand the burning in his empty lungs, he breathed in.
The gas had no smell or taste, but it burnt his eyes, and his nose and mouth. He choked and spluttered as the gas seared his windpipe and lungs. It was like breathing in fire. Jak collapsed onto all fours, great hacking coughs wracking his body. His eyes streamed and his vision failed. Unable to see, Jak wheezed and gasped, barely able to draw breath, he coughed and retched, trying to rid his body of the gas, but it was no good, the gas seeped into his bloodstream and he rolled over onto his back, unconscious. The last thing he heard was Daxter calling for him.