Chapter 29: BOOM!
Music: Explode by Patrick Stump
'I feel like I'm gonna explode
Any moment
I'm ready to blow
I can't stand it, I get so worried
I get so low
But if I'm never your hero I can never let you down
And the sirens go oh ah oh ah'
Mood: Irritated by pop music (i.e. Carly Ray Jepsen)
Disclaimer: Writers lie, just like your parents
Kor had alerted us that he desperately needed to see us, so we went to the Power Station next. He and the croco-dog were the only ones in there. I thought it was strange that neither of the kids were there, but brushed it off, thinking they were being babysat by someone else. Why did they leave the dog, though?
"I can't believe it! We were so close! The Baron stole the Precursor Stone right out from under us!" Kor was still complaining about that? We would get it back. I still didn't understand why he wanted it so bad. I could understand if he wanted it for the kids, for the kids to safe Haven, but his motives seemed much more selfish. He wanted the Stone for himself, and that didn't settle well with me. "And after all of our planning and hard work, Torn has betrayed the cause!" Kor growled.
"Torn meant well." Jak said, narrowing his eyes.
"Yeah," I agreed, halfway growling at the old man. "He was protecting some of our own."
"We must get that stone back." Kor said, apparently not able to focus on anything but that.
"We're working on it!" I snapped at him, crossing my arms.
"Yeah, we're working on it!" Daxter equoed, pushing his way between my legs to shove to the front.
"I've underestimated this Baron," Kor said sadly. "and now it appears he has taken the kids as well!" He gestured to the lonely croco-dog that looked down at the ground sadly. So that's where they were. I felt myself start growling unthinkingly; how could the Baron do that? "Think." He urged. "What will the Baron's next move be?"
There was a lot that the Baron could do next, but, undoubtedly, he'd try to get into the stone. I opened my mouth to say something, but was cut off by Daxter.
"Well, if I had the Precursor Stone, with all that power, I'd use it to build a giant palace. A palace with the biggest harem of women the world has ever known, and there'd be a swimming pool filled to the brim with chocolate... slightly minty... yeah, yeah, a massive pool of gooey chocolate! Then the girls and I would jump in together..." Jak slapped the back of Daxter's head before he could continue. "What?" He asked, disgruntled.
"I want you three to go out to the Drill Platform again. If you can destroy the main control tower there, it should temporarily stop the Baron's use of eco to harm us." Kor ordered as we walked towards to Warp Gate.
xMx
There were two Titan Suits outside of the Main Control Building. I hopped into the newer one, red rather than blue, and tried to get used to it. Tried.
I saw Jak smirking at my troubles in the suit. "Not so easy, is it?" He called before lowering the face shield. I stuck my tongue out at him, lowering mine as well.
The suit wasn't that hard to use, just awkward. I had to get used to the fact that all my body parts were longer and chunkier now. I was in control of it, and the designer did a good job; the Titan Suit felt just like an extension of me.
I took a few awkward steps forwards, getting the hang of it, and when I did, I followed Jak past the door he had broken down and into a room with an elevator. We stepped on to it and waited for it to descend.
The ride was actually quite a long one, and when we finally reached the bottom I stepped off quickly. The room we were in had four security lasers shooting across the ground periodically.
Jumping in the suit was kind of hard because to get higher, I had to press a button right when I jumped to make a small jet pack to propel me upwards.
I only forgot the button once, and we safely made it across and had to bust through another door to reach the next area. The next room –if you could call it that – was floating high off the ground, with only a thin line of flooring stretching to the other wall. The only other door I could see was on another level.
Jak and I decided, through silent communication, that we had to leave the Titan Suits on the springy looking platform across the room. So that's what we did, and then made our way back to the beginning and across two spring loaded boards that collapsed with any weight on them.
There was a lever at the top, and I pulled it. The platform that the suits were on began to rise and reached the top. Jak and I headed back over and got in our suits, Jak breaking through the next door.
The next area was full of spring loaded platforms that we had the jump across very quickly, or else would collapse, and this time… fire. Jak jumped across first two boards in short bunny hops, reaching the other side, and I went second waiting for the squares to come back up before hopping after him.
The fire was easy to get across, but once again, we had to take turns. I went first this time, walking as fast as the suit would let me to get across the grate before the fire came back on, Jak coming after. There was another fire platform, that, when crossed, reached another room.
Across a few floating platforms, and through another laser room, we reached the last room. The only way across was the fire grates and a few collapsible platforms. Jak went first and I followed after when he reached the other end, and finally, we reached an elevator that took us up to the Main Control room.
There were a few Metal Heads lurking in the area. I could see two computer towers that had four computer faces on this side, and through the arch, I could see the other two.
Jak took out the Metal Heads as I was looking around, so we both made our ways to separate towers. I decided to get straight to the point, so I took the big metal fist, and smashed it through the screen. This seemed to do that trick, as the mechanical voice warned us that the backup systems were failing.
I smashed the next screen around, and then the next one, and then the last one, listening to the system's voice getting more panicked as it warned us of the dangers.
We, of course, ignored it, and made our way to the backroom, knocking out the last two.
As soon as the metal fist landed home in the monitor, the system voice said, "Backup systems futile. Emergency over ride in…" A small timer popped up on a hologram, telling us we had a minute and thirty seconds to get out of the building before we became metal meat. Cooked metal meat.
I ditched the Titan Suit, knowing it would only hinder me. "Gotta run, gotta run!" Daxter exclaimed frantically as Jak and I full-fledge sprinted out of the room.
The elevator ride was torturous, still going at the same speed as it had when we came in. I hopped in my spot anxiously, diving out the door the second there was space, close behind Jak.
We both barreled over the fire grates, rolling over it as one before the fire could turn back on.
I got on my JET board through the laser room, gliding as fast as I could urge it to go, jumping over lasers and flipping over the pressure boards in the next room, still close behind Jak.
We both JET boarded over the next fire grate, praying to Mar and Sylence that we wouldn't get burnt. I only got slightly singed as the flame came back on only milliseconds after I left the platform. But, singed hair was better than being exploded.
I had to vault over a few gaps before I made it to the other side and into the next room, following so close to Jak that I was practically breathing on his neck.
I threw myself down the ledge onto one of the spring platforms, bouncing to the stable ground and running through the laser room only having to stop for one laser.
We ran through the very first room and into the elevator. This elevator went just as infuriatingly slow as the last one and I was twitching anxiously. The floating timer told us that we had nine seconds left, and if the elevator didn't make it up in time we were toast.
The elevator doors started to slowly slide open, but before I could react, Jak had already moved, pushing me in front of him and wrapping his arms around me and using his body to push me out the doors, where we barreled through the Warp Gate. I was just able to get a glimpse of a huge explosion racing after us before I was in the Power Strip, hunched over, panting.
xMx
Brutter called us over via the Transmitter, so we made our way to his stall.
It's Jak, and Maddy! And their little orangey pal!" Brutter greeted. I stayed stiff by Jak's side, arms crossed, trying to avoid a big Lurker hug. Daxter, however, made a beeline for the ale barrels, sticking his mouth right under it.
"Thank the totem I sees you. You help Lurkers once time, you help us twos?" the Lurker asked hopefully, blinking rapidly, head flicking between me and Jak.
"Look Brutter," Jak said plainly. "we've got our own problems to deal with right now."
"But you know big-to-do ruckus you caused at Dig?" I nodded, knowing no one else would. "I know all caves like back of claw, and Tomb of Mar and Sylence no where there! Now Metal Heads find hidden Lurker village in caves! They bite, and hurt village real bad, and we Lurker brothers trapped like animals!" He grabbed his face in distress. I frowned. We could probably fit him in… I mean we didn't have anything to do right now… Precursors, I was going soft.
"Ah, hello, they are animals." Daxter said obviously.
"We no longer evil-lurking, bad-to-bones, orangey boy!" Brutter fized his glasses. "We good now. Metal Headers are bad. They is enemies." He nodded.
"Yeah, I guess we're all in the same boat now." Jak said in a type of angry yet resigned way.
"And the ship is sinking fast, brother." Daxter answered, jumping on Jak's back and patting his head.
"Please, save six Lurker brothers quick, and Brutter will kiss you foots!" Daxter pulled back his foot quickly away from Brutter's face.
xMx
The Lurker carriers weren't that hard to find, and they were at least in the same area, relatively. I was driving, again, as I always did in these drive-by type missions.
We found three in the garden, but the Zoomer could only hold one at a time. I pulled up to the one closest to the Sewer Drain that lead to the Lurker hide-outs, waiting for it to crash from Jak's shooting. Once it did, I dropped zones and waited for the thing to get on the Zoomer
I quickly dropped it off and flew up to the next one. The second Lurker went to the same entrance, but the third one was now almost in Zone 6, so we had to take him into on a little into the city itself, passing by two more transport vehicles.
The two other ones both went to the inner-city entrance, and once they were off, I drove back to the gardens in search of the last Lurker.
The carrier was just barely driving in from the Bazaar, and Jak sent it crashing to the ground, and I switched to the bottom Zone to pick it up and drop it off at the garden entrance.
"Great heroes to Lurker people you be!" Brutter thanked us over the communicator. I wasn't a hero. A hired gun, assassin, hired driver, maybe, but I was no hero. "You honourary members of Lurker tribe now!"
I didn't know how I felt about that…
A/N: Sorry for the shortnes…
Oh. My. God. I've had call me maybe stuck in my head for like three hours and I think im going insane. I thought about putting it for this chapter's song just to irritate all of you, but I figured that would be rude.
Youre welcome.
Now review! :D