Chapter 12
Just Getting Started

"Would you knock that off?" Daxter demanded from atop Jak's shoulder. "You look like a kid who found a lifetime's supply of candy."

Alexander frowned, if only because Daxter had more or less encapsulated the feeling he was having right then. How in the world had he gone through three action-packed adventures without ever laying claim to a gun of his own? Hindsight was an incredible thing.

"You haven't even pulled the trigger," Jak pointed out.

They had Alex on that point. He had no idea what wielding this weapon was going to be like. Still, he tried to play it cool. "I need something to shoot at."

Smirking, Jak gestured toward the nearest door to the gun course.

Alexander laughed nervously and shook his head. "Uh, no thanks. I should... probably get used to firing it first."

Daxter facepalmed. "We're doomed."

It was then that Alex came to a realization. The more time the group spent focused on Alexander and his utter lack of gun experience, the more embarrassing it would be. They needed to move on.

Alex pressed down on the Blaster button again, and the entire gun changed into a smaller, compact shape with no ammo cartridge sticking out. Then he placed the Morph Gun into the pouch on his back. Thankfully, it fell into place easily and fit snugly. He'd still be able to retrieve it easily without having to worry about it falling out.

Adjusting the leather strap, Alexander was suddenly reminded of how much he was wearing at the moment. Between the gun strap, purple sash, silver watch clasps, and various emblems on his shoulder, he was carrying a great load of accessories. Perhaps a little too many – between the gun strap wrapping around his shoulder and the sash at his waist, his upper body movement was a bit restricted.

With no offense meant toward the three fairies who'd designed the outfit, Alexander unclasped the sash and stuffed it into one of his (infinite Etherspace) pants pockets. As he did so, he said, "So... wanna head back?"

Jak gave Alex an uneasy look. "You're not going to train?"

Not in front of you guys, Alexander thought to himself. But he didn't say that out loud. "I'm not going to rely on it too heavily for now. I've still got the shield and all. Five minutes shooting cardboard cut-outs isn't going to make me a marksman, and we've still got work to do."

Daxter shrugged. "Okay..." he said, using an if-you-really-think-that's-the-right-decision sort of tone.

The trio walked outside, and Jak used his communicator to check the minimap. Surprisingly, there were two icons lingering at the edges of the map instead of just one. One was the wine glass symbolizing Krew's saloon, and the other was the cutlass representing Torn's Underground Hideout.

"What's this?" Alex asked, looking over Jak's shoulder.

"Looks like both Torn and Krew have jobs for us," Jak replied.

There was only a brief moment of silence. Then, simultaneously, all three of them said, "Let's split up."

"I'll go back to Torn, take his mission, and recommend you guys to The Shadow," Alex suggested.

Jak nodded. "I'll go to Krew, and-"

"Hold on!" Daxter interrupted. "We've already got a bunch of neat toys. Why should we keep playing nice to Super Fatman?"

Alexander was ready to make up an alternate explanation, but Jak answered for him. "We still need his connection to get to the Baron."

The Interference was relieved. Sometimes, these things just worked out on their own. Nodding, he added, "With all the bribes and traffic he deals with, he's directly wired into the city's seedy underbelly."

"Oh never, ever use that phrase again," Daxter moaned. "Please."

Alex rolled his eyes. "Point is, he'll know if anything changes for our good Baron. Best to make sure we know these things first, right?"

"Right," Jak agreed. "But let's keep each other updated."

"Sure, you can call me on my old KG tag," Alex responded. "...Shall we?"

The group came to a silent agreement, then parted ways. In one direction, Alexander made his way toward the Hideout to do work for the Underground. In the other, Jak and Daxter headed back toward the Hip Hog Heaven to complete more missions for Krew...

Jak and Daxter found Krew hovering over the back of the bar, admiring something on display on the highest parts of the wall. At the top left (next to an unflattering portrait of Krew's mother, presumably), was a golden trophy.

Krew glanced back at the duo. "Mmm, your friend with the shield isn't with you? …Eh, no matter."

As they walked up, Krew floated down to their level. "I have a proposition for you, Jak. Racing is the biggest sport in the city. Erol is the undisputed grand champion. He's crazy, and dangerous on the track!" With a laugh, he added, "My kind of guy." Then, getting right in Jak's face, Krew pointed at the hero and said, "Only a fool would dare race against him, eh?"

Jak put up a stern face for as long as he could, but couldn't help quietly waving Krew's stench away when the crime boss' back was turned.

Krew floated toward the bar. "That's where you two come in. A client of mine is looking for a fast driver for her racing team." He picked up a thick stack of papers from the bar, on which a green KG security tag rested. Flinging the pass toward Jak, Krew continued: "Here's a security pass to get you into the Stadium section."

Jak snatched the security pass as it was tossed to him, then reached for the papers. But Krew pulled back at first.

"Uh, and your contract," Krew said, "with just a few trifles for me, heh heh... I've, eh, already signed your name to save time, hmmm."

The crime lord tossed the papers aside, but Daxter caught them neatly and immediately began to read: "We, the racers, hereby agree to give Krew all proceeds from race earnings, endorsement fees, broadcast royalties, syndication residuals, vehicle sponsorships, mall appearance fees, collectible card assets, fast food tie-ins, use-of-likeness rights, talk show deals, clothing lines..."

Jak found himself nearly dozing off where he stood. Okay, they were getting swindled! The point had been long since made!

But Daxter kept going: "...all print rights including book, novella, comic, pamphlet, ticker tape, neon sign and bathroom graffiti designs..."

By this point, Daxter was running out of breath. So he took a huge gasp of air, flipped the page, and kept reading: "...Toy lines, shoe rights, mood rings, game rights..."

The room fell silent for no discernible reason. "GAME RIGHTS?"

Then Daxter returned to the contract: "...Vitamin endorsements, city kickbacks, movie deals, and – of course – all death and dismemberment accident insurance claims."

Krew chuckled. "...We can work out the... tiny details later." He then rounded on Jak once again. "If you can get from here to the Race Garage near the Stadium in less than three minutes, my client said she would consider that you drive for her team."

Jak stroked his goatee in thought. Krew obviously didn't think much about this assignment, but Jak suspected that the races would help him out with his own goals...

Krew floated backward and gave Jak a deep scowl. "Make me proud, hmmm?"

It took Alexander longer than he expected to reach the Underground Hideout. He'd started out by driving a light-double Zoomer, which had turned out to be a mistake. In the year (really eight months) he'd spent driving around Haven City, he was really only proficient with the light-single variety that was driven bike-style rather than car-style. He just couldn't get perfectly comfortable with steering wheels – especially on the double-seated Zoomers, where there was a steering wheel on each side.

So after causing a traffic jam with his inelegant driving, giving up, and searching out a better ride, he finally pulled into the Hideout's alley and dismounted.

Before he approached the hidden entrance, however, he had a thought to contact Jak. The protagonist would've likely gotten his mission from Krew by now, and Alex had a specific act as an Interference he wanted to perform.

He pulled out his KG tag and flipped it open. In a few moments, he'd connected to Jak's communicator signal. There was a lot of wind over the speakers – Jak was likely driving somewhere, and very fast. So Alex raised his voice as he said: "Jak! It's Alex! I just reached the Hideout! What's going on with you?"

"I'm trying to…" Jak started, but cut himself off with a grunt. It sounded like he couldn't concentrate on speaking while he was driving.

Daxter decided to speak in his stead. "Krew's got us racing toward the Stadium! We're supposed to meet up with some chick at the Race Garage!"

Alex smirked, thankful that Jak and Daxter couldn't read his expression. "The mechanic at the Race Garage? I remember her from my KG days! I think her name is Keira!"

Almost instantly, there was a loud burst of static through the little communicator's speakers, followed by several crashing sounds.

Soon after, Alexander could hear the telltale claxon of the city's alarms. The Interference was silent for several seconds. Then, without a word, he closed the communicator and slipped it back into his pocket.

Feeling very embarrassed, Alex turned toward the Hideout's entrance. The wall had slid open, and Torn was standing in front of the door with an even angrier look on his face than usual. Alex tried to come up with something to say – perhaps something clever – but all he could come up with was: "They can handle themselves."

Torn narrowed his eyes. "Yeah, great idea. Split up. Now you can cause twice as many city-wide alarms."

Finally, Alex's wit caught up with him. "Hey, this is only the… third alert we've caused since our escape. Give or take. I think we're doing pretty well, all told."

Torn just intensified his glare. Alex let out a small sigh. Sometimes, there was just no pleasing the ex-KG commander.

Finally, the issue seemed to drop. As Alexander followed Torn inside, the commander said, "I see you're packing some new hardware."

"Yep," was all Alex said, subconsciously adjusting the strap of his back-holster. Needless to say he was quite proud of his new acquisition.

"Tell me something," Torn said, stopping halfway on the stairs. "Are you the same corporal who insisted he didn't need any more weapons?"

Alexander quirked an eyebrow. "Not anything the KG had to offer."

Torn grunted and continued down the stairs. "Just make sure your safety's on. We have an important guest."

This surprised Alexander. "Who?"

They reached the Hideout's main room, and Torn stepped aside. Standing in front of the table was a stout man with green skin, with a thick log sticking through his afro of moss-like hair.

"The Shadow!" Alex exclaimed, answering his own question.

"Alexander!" Samos replied, a pleased expression on his face. "It's wonderful to see you again, my boy. Even if you are… different from before."

Torn stood halfway between Alex and Samos, smirking at the young Interference. "Looks like you made one hell of an impression back in Old Sandover. He asked to see you as soon as possible."

Samos nodded. "Most of us thought you were dead. But I always suspected that you might be still alive; especially after Even blabbed about your true role."

Torn gave Alex a stern look. "Have you told Jak and Daxter?"

Alexander grimaced. "No, I… haven't. I'm getting close, though. They've already accepted a lot of things, like my magic and the fact that I'm from a different world. The video game… well, that's going to be a tough sell no matter how much I set it up."

"These two…" Samos interrupted. "They're the ones you escaped with, correct?"

Immediately, Alex was reminded of his promise to the protagonists. "Yes. I'd highly recommend you meet them in person. They are the heroes of the story, after all."

To Alex's relief, Samos seemed open to the idea. "If that's true, I imagine I'd be meeting them at some point anyway."

The Shadow then turned toward the table, and both Torn and Alexander gathered around as well. Gesturing toward the map of the city, Samos said, "You three couldn't have appeared at a better time. If our intelligence is right, the war between the Baron and the Metal Heads is coming to a head. We need to solve two problems at once, or there won't be a city left to save."

"Speaking of intelligence," Torn cut in, "I have a mission that needs doing. If you don't mind, Shadow…"

Samos nodded and stepped back, and Torn looked directly at Alexander. "I probably don't need to tell you, but one of the Baron's mining operations is under attack."

Alex smirked. "Save the foreman, Vin. Got it."

This only seemed to annoy Torn, though. "Good," he said without really meaning it. "Got anything else to spoil while you're here?"

It was a barely-veiled insult, but Alex took it seriously. The young man took one look at Samos and made up his mind. "Samos, you have an older time twin somewhere in the city. Probably in one of the Baron's prisons."

Samos was shocked. Torn was shocked and even more pissed. "Are you kidding? You couldn't have brought that up sooner? Really?"

Alex made his way toward the door. "Believe me, I tried looking for him. But I was just a corporal, so I didn't get very far."

With just over twenty seconds on the clock, Jak flew up the Stadium steps and into the concourse proper. On the far left of the Stadium's entrance were three "no-fly-zone" markers, so Jak and Daxter disembarked from the (newly acquired) Zoomer there.

Fortunately, the alarm had stopped once it was clear that the Krimzon Guards were being horribly outpaced. Jak had a way of weaving in and out of traffic, switching between hover zones fluidly to take advantage of open spaces. If Alexander hadn't dropped that accidental information bombshell, they might've made it to the Stadium without a scratch.

Daxter barely managed to stay on Jak's shoulder as he half-jogged through the markers, entering the enclosed Race Garage. He immediately spotted the open garage doors on the left, and slowed his movement to a casual stroll.

The insides of the garage were about what he expected, but it was also a tad cluttered. The walls of the garage were lined with shelves holding up tools and schematics, while the group of tables in the center were occupied by the remains of a racing Zoomer. In front of them was a thick green curtain blocking off a section of the garage. Immediately to the right of the curtain was a rather large shelf holding a number of trophies.

Jak gave the garage a quick glance, but he didn't see anyone present – much less their friend Keira. "Uh, hello?" he asked around, somewhat confused. "Krew said someone was looking for a race driver?"

"I'm busy right now! You must be Krew's new errand boys," a high-pitched female voice came from behind the curtain. It sounded a little muffled. Jak tried to peer through the curtain, and could just make out the silhouette of a female form kneeling down next to a hulking machine.

The woman lifted up the welder's mask that had been partially muffling her, and turned toward the curtain. "Look, I don't mean to be rude – you did get here pretty fast – but I'm not interested in any new drivers right now! And I've got work to do!"

Jak and Daxter glanced at each other meaningfully. It was almost hard to tell without any visual cues, but since they were focusing on any resemblance to Keira… this woman was almost a dead-on match.

Daxter jumped onto one of the tables and grinned. "Aw, c'mon. Can't even make time for two of your favorite heroes?"

From the other side of the curtain, there was no mistaking Daxter's unique dialect. Immediately, the curtain was thrown aside to reveal their one-and-only mechanic friend Keira. She let out a gasp and exclaimed, "Jak! Daxter! It IS you!"

"Keira!" the duo shouted simultaneously.

Keira ran over to where Daxter stood and pinched his cheeks, much to the Ottsel's chagrin. "Oh, I never thought I'd be glad to see your furry mug! And Jak…!"

When Keira disengaged from Daxter and turned toward the other friend, she couldn't help but pause. Jak was not the innocent hero he'd been when they'd left Sandover, not by a long shot. There were a number of factors that informed her, but all those subtle factors at once made him look like a totally different person.

At the same time, though, he was unmistakably Jak. So Keira reached forward and wrapped her arms around Jak in a firm hug. She could feel the bulky gun Jak was wearing, but she chose to ignore it for the moment.

Finally, she released the hero from her grip and gave Jak a questioning look. "What happened to you?"

Jak averted his eyes for a moment. There was too much to say for two years unaccounted for. "It's been a tough ride."

Deciding to be more specific, Daxter said, "The Baron pumped our boy here full of Dark Eco! And it did something to him. Now he's got 'super moves' or something." Behind his hand, he added, "And a few anger issues as well."

That would certainly account for the whole attitude shift. Still, it didn't explain everything. "Wait. Hold on," Keira said. "You're Krew's errand boys? You're the ones the Baron's guards are looking for? You guys caused that alarm?"

"We were just that happy to see you," Daxter quipped, referencing Alexander's surprise call.

Keira peered over Jak's shoulder. "A gun?" she muttered.

Jak scowled. "It's been two years. And all those years, the Baron tortured me in his prison. So… yes. I need Krew's connections to get at the Baron. And I need all the firepower I can get."

"The Jak I know wouldn't work for a slimeball like Krew," Keira countered.

"It's not just Krew," Jak continued. "I'm also working for the Underground."

"Also, by the way, no argument from us that Krew's a slimeball," Daxter cut in. "Literally and figuratively."

Those words seemed to take some of the wind out of Keira's argument. But with one concern momentarily silenced, another one took its place. "Well… who cares about the Baron? What's more important is finding a way back home!"

This came as a surprise to both protagonists. "We can go back?" Daxter asked.

Keira placed a hand over her eyes. "Do you even know what that Rift Gate did?"

When it was clear that neither Jak nor Daxter knew the answer, Keira said, "Guys, that Rift… It took us far into the future!"

…

Now here was a bombshell to rival anything they'd learned since their escape. Both boys' jaws just dropped in shock. Jak was the first to recover, saying, "You mean this… this horrible place… is our world?"

Keira nodded vigorously. "Have you been out to Dead Town? You know what they called it last year? 'Old Sandover'! Daddy's old hut is still there, hiding behind the ruins!"

Daxter slumped into a sitting position, his eyes still wide. "It can't be…"

"We jumped forward two-hundred years into the future," Keira continued to explain. "In that time, the Metal Head wars started, Eco technology advanced, and Haven City was built up right next to Sandover Village!"

Jak was finally starting to get a sense of what was going on. "And then, a year ago, the Baron abandoned that section of the city to the Metal Heads." Alexander had said just as much.

Actually, that brought up an interesting question. Alex had said he was from another world. If they'd traveled through a time Rift to get here, then how did Alexander get here? Where exactly was he from?

Jak suddenly grimaced. That was precisely the question! That was the question they'd been dancing around this whole time. The shield-wielding, magic-slinging stranger had always been upfront with information, except when it came to his own origins. Whenever they asked, Alex always gave them some kind of vague half-answer.

No matter how helpful he was being, Alexander Karsath was holding a lot more back. That information had to be important.

Keira's speaking brought Jak back to the current conversation. "Look, I can't stop you from taking jobs for Krew or the Underground. But please, while you're out there, I need you to help me with my plan to get us home!"

"Sure thing, toots!" Daxter responded, having regained some measure of his characteristic energy. "It'll be just like old times."

"It won't be as simple as collecting arbitrary numbers of Power Cells," Keira warned them. With some flourish, she threw the curtain wide open, revealing… the Rift Rider they'd used back in Sandover!

Daxter laughed upon seeing it. Keira shot the Ottsel a dirty look, but said, "The Rift Rider we used to get here kinda… exploded in the middle of the warp. So I've been building a replica out of old artifacts."

Jak could see the logic: Use the same mechanisms for time travel to go back to their own time. Looking over the machine, he said, "You did all this? I mean, that's… useful."

"Thanks… I guess," Keira said hesitantly. "But I'm still missing two pieces."

"Oh," Jak said. "Still."

Keira gestured towards two parchments hung up on the nearest wall. "Vin – the guy who works at the Power Station – says I need an artifact called the Time Map and an old energy gem the history books call The Heart of Mar."

Jak inspected the old papers. The one on the right was a gem that looked like the ruby button Jak had pressed to start the Rider. The artifact on the left depicted a orb-like container split in two, with various spheres spinning around a glowing core. The Heart of Mar and the Time Map respectively.

Jak glanced over the Rift Rider, and noticed neither of those artifacts were attached to the vehicle's dashboard. Other than that, it seemed to be a faithful replica.

"You know where they are?" he asked Keira.

"I wish," the mechanic admitted. "And there's more. I've looked through every Precursor history book I could find, but the Rift Ring seems to have vanished. And then…"

She trailed off, but Jak knew what she meant. "You haven't found your father?" Jak said quietly.

Keira just shook her head silently.

"Okay…" Jak muttered. "We'll find them."

Daxter started counting on his fingers. "The Time Map, the Heart of Mar, the Rift Ring, and the old man. Heck of a shopping list."

"I know," Keira mumbled, trying to regain her composure. "Just… as soon as you can."

Jak nodded, and motioned for Daxter to join him. The Ottsel jumped onto Jak's shoulder as the hero started walking out of the garage with new goals in mind. But as he reached the garage doors, he looked back and looked at the trophy case.

"Hey," Jak said suddenly. "Looks like you've won a few races."

"Thanks," Keira replied half-heartedly, staring at the Rift Rider.

Jak looked directly at her. "Isn't it true the city champion gets to tour the Palace?"

Keira returned his look with more than a little suspicion. "Yeah… Why?"

Directly to the point, Jak said, "Can you get me into the Palace?"

Keira sighed. Some part of her had seen this coming. "A friendly visit, I gather." She glanced over at Daxter, still sitting on Jak's shoulder. "Dax, you do realize that your best friend is a lunatic bent on revenge, right?"

"And I'll be sure to complain about it every step of the way!" Daxter responded with a mock salute.

Keira quickly went from annoyed to angry. She drew the curtains closed, cutting herself off from the two protagonists. "You know what? No. I'm not telling you anything. Not until you prove to me you can do more than just punch and shoot."

He probably should've been insulted, but Jak was more amused than anything. "Sure. What do you have in mind?"

There was a short silence. Then Keira said, "Take my prototype JET-Board out on the Stadium course. Beat the Stadium challenge, and maybe I'll consider telling you how to get into the Palace."

Jak and Daxter looked at each other with evil grins, mouthing the words 'JET-Board' in unison. Keira couldn't have picked a better quest.

Alex made sure to stick with the light-single Zoomers as he made his way down to the Power Station, which was tucked away down a side road in the lower parts of the Industrial District. The door to the place was set along the raised highway, above the ground level.

The Interference had been here a couple of times while he was in the Krimzon Guard (and once before while he was a prisoner), so he knew that this place contained one of the very few Warp Gates in the entire city. The only other one Alex could remember was inside the Baron's Fortress. That made the Power Station an important hub for traveling to many of the Baron's other operations, like the Drill Platform and – more presently important – the Strip Mine.

When he walked inside, of course, the Power Station was barren. It was brightly lit, given all the glowing monitors, flashing buttons, and open power currents throughout the spacious room. But the small platform in the middle was devoid of engineers working on the systems.

That was what Alex was here to remedy.

He passed by the monitoring platform and strolled down the narrow pathway to the Warp Gate. And without any further ado, he jumped in, disappearing in a flash.

The next moment, he appeared in the midst of an immense open-air quarry. The dug-out area around him was vast, but there were also high cliffs to the sides and behind Alexander. These cliffs were filled with mining machines hard at work, filling the air with the sounds of rocks being dug out and ground up.

Some distance ahead, the quarry dropped off to another steep cliff leading down to the waters below. Built on opposite ends of this cliff were two administrative buildings. And running between them was a large rail from which enormous crates of freshly mined material were carried from one end of the mine to another.

The building on the right, raised high above the quarry, was Alex's target. From his position down on the quarry floor, he could already see various Heartless gathered around the building. The foreman, Vin, had probably locked himself inside to keep the monsters at bay.

Alexander took a moment to think. Normally, he'd be required to make his way across the quarry up to the leftmost administrative building, and then ride the mining containers across the rail over to where Vin was hiding.

However, it was in his nature to cheat the normal procedure whenever possible. And with the Growth abilities recovered through his magicked adventuring clothes, he could probably get up to the platform in one shot.

It was worth a shot.

Alex started by checking out his immediate surroundings. To his left was a tall hill of rock with a somewhat steep slope and a flat plateau. A few hills like it littered the quarry, and bridges had been built between them. To his right was – to his surprise – a great pool of Dark Eco, with several Metal Head-like stalks sticking out of the middle. Again, this wasn't the only pool of Dark Eco in the quarry; the volatile plasma seemed to be in abundance as a side effect of the mining operation.

Right in front of him, however, were two Krimzon Guard crates. And immediately, Alexander saw an opportunity to test out his new equipment. Instead of summoning his Lockshield to prepare for combat, he pulled out the Morph Gun from his back and activated it, switching it to the Blaster mod.

With one hand around the trigger and the other on the barrel's grip, he aimed the laser sight at one of the crates and fired. A yellow blast shot out of the gun and smashed the crate open, and two floating Red ammo cartridges popped out.

But Alex hadn't quite expected the recoil from the shot. With the gun positioned around his lower chest, the butt of the gun pushed back into his ribs.

It took Alexander a moment to figure out how to deal with this problem. As he aimed the laser sight toward the other crate, he pulled the gun up toward his shoulder before firing. The gun pushed against the space between his shoulder and his neck as it recoiled, and another Yellow Eco bolt smashed the crate. Appropriately enough, two Yellow ammo units appeared in the crate's wreckage.

When he stepped forward to collect the ammo, Alex discovered that collecting ammo for the Morph Gun was just as easy as collecting little globs of Dark Eco. As soon as he touched the Yellow ammo, it flowed through him and into his weapon in an instant. But when he tried to collect the Red ammo, for which he was already at full capacity, it just dissipated.

Alex didn't have long to process this learning, however, because his shots had resonated across the mine. He could hear various digging and scurrying sounds, likely coming from Metal Heads in the vicinity.

"Tutorial's over," Alex said to himself, steeling himself for the coming fight. "Let's play!"

Two scorpion-like Metal Head Stingers dug out of the ground a few yards ahead of Alexander. As soon as he caught a glimpse of their shining skull gems, Alexander aimed at one of them and pulled the trigger. The Yellow blast hit its mark, knocking the rightmost Stinger back.

At this point, Alexander discovered another reason why gun combat was fundamentally different from melee. In close-quarters, combat was all about moving his body to react and attack. But at range, it all came down to one action: Pulling the trigger.

It took Alex a precious second to realize that he needed to pull the trigger again – that one shot wasn't going to be enough.

He fired once more at his previous target, but aimed too low. Since the Blaster was semi-automatic, he just aimed slightly higher and swiftly pulled the trigger once more. This time, the Stinger let out a howl as the blast smashed its skull open, letting its gem pop out.

Now he noticed that the other Stinger was getting dangerously close. He also heard an animalistic growl to his left, and he assumed that there was a Metal Head Grunt coming down the hill next to him.

The Stinger curled up and attacked, extending its gigantic stinger to twice the length of its body. Alexander nimbly hopped backward to dodge, and took a few steps to his right to keep himself out of melee range. As he strafed to the side, he just fired repeatedly at the nearby Stinger until he heard the telltale thock of a released skull gem.

Finally, Alex turned to his left. His suspicions were right; it was a Grunt running down the hill. Without even thinking at this point, Alexander aimed the sight at the Metal Head (a much bigger target than the Stingers, he noted idly) and fired three shots. At the relatively close range, all three blasts were on target and defeated the imposing monster.

Alex checked his surroundings for a moment. There were no Metal Heads trying to attack him now, but every step he took through this quarry would trigger an ambush.

At the moment, Alexander was experiencing a strange sensation. A part of him was thrown way back to his second day as an Interference – way back in Twilight Town – when he'd first attempted any kind of real fighting in his life. Once again, he felt completely new to this kind of combat, and his inexperience in the heat of battle gave him that familiar feeling of desperation and self-doubt.

Still, some of the basic instincts were the same. Gunplay required the same kind of fancy footwork as close-quarters, especially when the gunplay was one-sided (like the previous encounter). Dodging, retreating, reorienting; these were all basic skills that Alex already had plenty of practical experience with.

And at the end of the day, it was just another act of aggression.

Alexander would've liked to ruminate on the implications of his new weapon a bit longer, but the sounds of Metal Heads brought him back to reality. There weren't any more monsters nearby, but their motions throughout the quarry were highly audible.

Now he needed to get to Vin before the Metal Heads broke into his building.

Alex used a High Jump to get to the top of the hill to his left. From his new vantage point, he could see over the rest of the quarry floor and its many conveyors and containers. Fortunately, if his plan worked out alright, he wouldn't have to cross any of that dangerous territory.

The Interference turned to his right, directly facing the administrative building. He ran across a bridge connecting to the next hill, which was more or less adjacent to the raised platform.

It was now or never. From here, the platform was pretty high up, but Alex was almost certain he could make it…

He jumped. His Growth ability took him up to… just level with the platform. From there, Alexander used his Aerial Dodge to move closer and gain just a little bit of extra height. Of course, this sent him spinning in midair, not quite able to see where he was going. As he spun and approached the platform, his feet actually caught along the metal edge of the structure.

His momentum carried him straight down, and his face impacted the floor with a solid THUD. His Morph Gun bounced off the ground and skidded out in front of him.

"Ow…"

Alex didn't have to get up to know that the Metal Heads on the platform had noticed his pratfall. Already, the monsters were charging toward him. Four Grunts, judging by the sounds.

He'd had enough. Alex just looked up, gestured toward the approaching Metal Heads, and intoned, "Thundaga." A bolt of lightning struck the foremost Metal Head, creating an electric shockwave that hit the others as well. For good measure, Alex cast the spell a second time and all but eliminated the group of enemies. Several skull gems scattered across the platform.

Now that he had some room, Alexander got up and dashed toward his gun. This turned out to be a timely action, because a burst of Dark Eco occurred at the corner he'd occupied just a moment before. There were two Metal Jackets flying in the air near the platform, hovering over the vast canyon.

It was definitely time for more gunplay.

Alexander grabbed the Blaster, fired at the last Metal Head Grunt, and aimed at the two large, hornet-like Metal Jackets. As soon as the laser sight came close to the flying enemies, they started twitching left and right, using their buzzing wings to swiftly dodge around. Alexander fired at one of them, but the Metal Jacket managed to dodge aside.

"Keep pulling the trigger…" Alex reminded himself aloud, and did so. But even though he was firing as often as the gun would allow, his shots always failed to hit either mark. Either the Metal Jackets dodged out of the way, or the recoil from a previous shot would throw his aim wildly off.

Yes, a gun was good for middle and long range, but that didn't mean anything if he couldn't hit his target.

A marksman, Alexander Karsath was not. Even with a laser sight helping him.

Alex stopped shooting, not wanting to waste ammo. This finally gave the Metal Jackets an opportunity to shoot back. They gathered up Dark Eco in their large, hanging tails and lobbed it at Alex. The Interference dodged to the side just in time to avoid getting caught in the impact explosions.

He now had to choose how to take these enemies down. He could probably a long-range spell like Lightning to take them down one at a time, but that was terribly inefficient for two minor enemies. Instead, Alex opted to try out one of his other new weapons.

Pressing the downward button on the back of the gun, Alexander watched as the body of the gun shifted to allow a Metal Head skull to appear at the front. It was time to fire a Peace Maker.

Figuring its controls were similar to those in the game, Alex kept the trigger held down. The gun started to shake and whirr as a ball of lightning charged up within the Metal Head skull.

"Holy crap!" Alex exclaimed as he struggled to keep the gun steady. Unlike Sig's weapon, the Peace Maker mod for the Morph Gun charged up very quickly. Within a couple of seconds, there was a fully formed lightning singularity contained at the end of his gun. It was all Alex could do to double-check the laser sight one last time before letting go of the trigger.

The kick was incredible, the barrel lifting while the butt of the gun rammed painfully into Alex's shoulder. The Peace Maker shot spun through the air toward the two Metal Jackets, slightly changing its trajectory as the monsters tried to move. The lightning ball hit one of them, creating a cloud of lightning that jumped from the first Metal Head to the other one, shocking both of them for many seconds.

Alex stumbled backwards, but recovered in time to watch the Metal Jackets fall and fade away in purple light. The enemies' skull gems plummeted into the depths below.

"Holy crap," Alex reiterated.

The Interference hastily double-checked the platform to make sure there weren't any other enemies nearby. Thankfully, he seemed to be alone in front of the building. Alexander was somewhat pleased at this, since ending the battle with a Peace Maker was certainly a high note.

Alex glanced at the ammo counter; nine out of ten rounds remaining. It was probably best to conserve that type of ammo for now. Not that he was going to rely on the Peace Maker or anything – it was clearly not an easy weapon to handle. Until he had some more real experience using and carrying this gun, he was going to have to be careful.

With one last glance at the corner of the platform, Alex sheathed his gun. The important word here was "careful."

Alexander approached the thick metal door of the building. There was a button on the right side that would open the sealed entrance, but he knew better than to just simply open it. He considered knocking, but that would probably sound like Metal Heads attacking, and he didn't want to scare the lone occupant inside.

So instead, he shouted, "Hey! Vin! The Metal Heads are gone. You can come out now!"

There was a quick scurrying sound behind the door, but it didn't open.

"Vin! Come out!" Alex shouted again.

There was just silence this time.

Alexander groaned in frustration. Giving up on his alternative approach, he stepped to one side of the door and pressed the button. The door opened up, revealing a small entrance room with many glowing monitors and controls making up a console just beyond the door. Several crates had been stacked up against the door as a barricade.

"AAH!" a grown man screamed, popping out from behind the boxes and firing his pistol haphazardly. "Stay back, stay back!"

The Interference just closed his eyes as the laser blasts continued to fire straight out the door and completely fail to find a target. Finally, he peeked around the wall and shouted, "Would you just STOP THAT? The Metal Heads are GONE. I killed them!"

"Stay back!" the man repeated, unrelenting in his pitiful assault.

"I'm not here to kill you!" Alexander yelled. "If I was, I'd have done so already!"

Finally, the shots ceased. Vin collapsed against one of the crates adjusted his goggles. He was a thin, white-haired man wearing a white shirt and suspenders. "Oh, friendlies? Oh, thank goodness," Vin gasped. "Well, so… wha-, where… where's the army?"

"I'm the army," Alex muttered. "Torn sent me."

"What?" Vin snapped, understandably distressed. "Just you? One guy?" He fell against one of the taller crates in despair, moaning, "What do they think I'm worth?"

Alex restrained himself from groaning out loud. Yes, he was well aware of this event in the game, but being in the midst of it made his patience wear thin. "Look, just turn on the Warp Gate out here and let's get going. Before more Metal Heads show up."

That last sentence seemed to get Vin's attention. Fortunately, there was a Warp Gate right outside the foreman's building. All Vin had to do was power it on from inside the station, and they immediately had a ticket back to Haven City.

But just to keep an eye on the cowardly engineer, Alexander made sure Vin went first. The man wouldn't even go in for the longest while, constantly checking to and fro for monsters (and even panicking at monsters he thought he saw but didn't really see).

Finally, after Vin had spent so much time standing in front of the Warp Gate and not proceeding, Alexander just pushed Vin inside (where he disappeared in a flash) and jumped into the Gate himself.

Alex reappeared in the Power Station, and not a moment too soon. Vin had already gone to the central console to switch off the Warp Gate from the other side. The man was understandably paranoid – nobody wanted Metal Heads to use the Warp Gates to get inside the city – but Alex could tell that this was one quirky character that would get annoying quickly in real life.

After taking a moment to calm down after the mission, Alexander approached Vin. The engineer was staring intently at the monitor in front of him, his head frequently darting left and right to track the strings of text that rolled across the screen. The text was in Precursor script, of course – Alex hadn't read a single letter of English in two years.

Vin seemed to hear Alexander's hard footsteps (not surprising given the steel-toed boots Alex was wearing), and said, "Hey, I wanna thank you for saving my butt out there at the Strip Mine."

Alex was tempted to steal Daxter's "thanks for being such a bad shot" line, since neither of the protagonists were present for this meeting. But suddenly, repeating lines he'd already memorized just seemed to easy. Could he go a whole cutscene without recycling the other heroes' dialogue?

So he just shrugged and said, "Oh, no problem." Still wanting to get some sarcasm in the conversation, he added, "It helps that you can finally tell friend from foe."

"Uh, yeah, sorry about that," Vin replied with a sheepish grin, absentmindedly typing on the console with one hand. "I'm a little jumpy these days."

Alex chuckled. "I imagine you've got good reason to be."

"Well, yeah!" Vin replied, raising his voice a little. "I mean, you saw what was happening back there. They're probably tearing through that mine right now, stealing all the Eco for themselves just so WE can't have it!"

"Less Eco, less power for the shield wall protecting the city," Alexander mused aloud. And this time, the Baron wouldn't be able to sacrifice extra parts of the city like Old Sandover.

Vin nodded frantically. "And if the shield drops… well, we can all kiss our butts goodbye!"

"And none of this will matter," Alex added. The Baron's desperate deal with the Metal Heads would be moot. The Underground would have no time to find its new ruler for Haven. The city would fall under siege… and Even would reap from the darkness that ensued.

Fortunately, the city had enough Eco left to protect the city for a while; more than long enough for the events of the game to finish. They had time, and Alex was already trying to speed things up.

Forcibly shaking himself from the sudden melancholy he'd found himself in, Alexander couldn't help but notice that Vin wasn't saying anything else. "Uh, Vin?"

"Yeah?" the engineer responded.

"Got any missions for me? Anything you need me to do?"

Vin looked confused. He checked the screens, and then looked back at Alex again. "Uh, no, I don't think so…" He panicked. "Should I? Is there something I don't know?"

Alex quickly tried to calm him down. "No, no! There's nothing. If you don't see any problems, there's nothing. I just thought… Yeah, there's nothing."

Vin wasn't totally convinced, but he dropped the subject. "Y-You can report back to Torn now." And with that, he turned back toward the computer screens, intent on leaving the interaction behind him.

For his part, Alexander was now totally confused. He knew for a fact there was supposed to be another mission immediately after the Strip Mine rescue – something about destroying Metal Head eggs at the Drill Platform. There was supposed to be "a drop in Eco flow" that clued Vin into the emergency.

But apparently… There was no such event taking place. So had Alexander misinterpreted the series of events, or had something really changed as a result of his actions to make that mission disappear? Either way, it was troubling.

On the other hand, Alex was elated by the opportunity to skip this particular mission. He didn't have to go to the Drill Platform! Missions at that location were never pleasant – both in the gameplay and in the service of the Krimzon Guard. If he didn't have to go there, Alexander was more than happy to let the matter slide.

In fact, he could already see a way to take advantage of the situation. "Actually, Vin… You owe me for saving your life. I could use a favor."

Vin nervously rubbed the back of his neck. "I-I can't help you with your Eco bill."

Alex chuckled. "No, no, it's nothing like that." But his mirth quickly disappeared when he was reminded of his apartment in North Town. Had the Baron sold it off, along with all of his possessions, when he was recaptured? Realizing that was likely the case, Alexander silently cursed at his ill fortune. That had been a really nice place, even better than his apartment in Twilight Town…

Swiftly regaining his composure, Alex said, "No, I just need you to switch something on. Turn on one thing in the city that hasn't had power in a long time." Vin just looked at him, so Alex continued, "One of the Palace's support towers is in North Town. There's an access elevator inside. I need you to power it on."

Vin did a double take. "The elevator? Sheesh, that's part of the old B-Zone power grid! It hasn't worked for years!"

At this point, Alexander was extremely tempted to go for the "power stuff can be tricky" line, but he wasn't out of his self-imposed challenge yet. "C'mon, Vin. It can't be that… hard."

The engineer's eyes darted to the left every so often. "Uh, yes, as a matter of fact. Yes it can."

Alex frowned. "Are you telling me that turning on an old grid to power one measly elevator is too… complicated for you?"

"Yes!" Vin shouted. "Well, no. I mean…!" With a scowl on his face, he turned back toward the console. "Look, do you have any idea what it would take to pull off something like that?"

In the bag. With a smug smirk, Alex said, "Enlighten me."

Vin glared back at Alexander, recognized his non-verbal challenge, and stood up straight. Starting to press many buttons in sequence, he said, "I'd have to route the B-Zone conduit lines through the bypass grid, shunting past the Eco rings to connect the inductor tubes in series, then back through the outer wall insulator helix and across the resonant flux routers into the number five capacitor array. Assuming the circuits in GX75B can handle the surge, I'd need to link the phase loop lines into the primary coils, and…!"

With one great slam of buttons, Vin turned around with a great flourish and announced, "…presto, you've got instant lift juice!"

Alexander smiled and shook his head in mild astonishment. "…That… is definitely complicated. I gotta admit, you know your stuff, Vin."

Vin humbly waved away the praise. "Well, guys like me are nothing next to Mar. People say he made most of this stuff long ago – the shield wall system, the Eco grid…" Bringing himself back to the present, Vin said, "Anyway, to get that elevator moving, you gotta find and turn on all the B-Zone power boxes located in the city."

Alex nodded. "Alright. Where exactly do I find them again?"

"There are five of them!" Vin explained. "Five power boxes, all the way from here in the Industrial District to the end of the Slums. But…"

"But…?" Alexander echoed. Since he knew the answer, he decided to feign an insight. "Wait, aren't there five hidden turbo cannons between here and the Slums?"

Vin gulped. "Y-Yep. Right on the money. B-But if you can destroy the cannons and switch the boxes on, then I can do the rest."

Alexander simply smirked. He was definitely up for causing another city-wide alarm today. Nodding at Vin, he made his way for the Power Station's entrance.

"Just don't tell the Baron I ever saw ya!" Vin shouted after him.

Without looking back, Alex just gave him a thumbs-up and left.

Jak and Daxter had been excited at the mere prospect of a prototype JET-Board. Upon entering the Stadium proper and trying out the JET-Board for themselves… they weren't disappointed.

The JET-Board, like the Morph Gun, was compactible and came in two different forms: a smaller "backpack" version that attached magnetically, and the full board itself. It was circular in shape, with many metal sheets along the top and bottom that rotated and folded over each other to allow the device to compact.

Being a hoverboard, the JET-Board kept itself about a foot off the ground and propelled itself forward automatically. Jak and Daxter were able to arrange themselves so that Daxter was situated near Jak's feet; the Ottsel was just as much a rider on the hoverboard as Jak was.

Keira was kind enough to walk the protagonists through its basic functions. It could grind on rails, it could jump higher with each consecutive jump, and it could perform a little speed boost whenever Jak and Daxter pulled off a full 360-degree spin. In no time, they were ready to perform spins, rolls, and various other tricks with their newfound equipment.

In proper tutorial fashion, it had taken some of their basic skills to even approach the entrance to the skate park within the Stadium. The park's facilities were extensive – tunnels reaching below the stonework; ramps overlooking the ground from the highest levels; grind rails along the sides of the walls, pillars, and ramps; and even rings of fire to jump through.

Keira, speaking through Jak's communicator, told them that the Stadium's systems would automatically judge their tricks and performance in the skate park. The basic challenge was 15,000 points, but there were higher goals for bronze, silver, and gold rankings in the challenge.

"Just head on down the ramp," Keira said, "and have the automated judge follow you. Then you'll have 90 seconds to perform all the tricks you want."

"Sounds good to me," Jak responded, holding the JET-Board under his arm. "You ready for this, Dax?"

"Ready?" Daxter said incredulously. "Buddy, I was born for stupid stunts like this! Let's rock!"

With no further ado, Jak jumped, tossed the JET-Board under his feet, and rode the hoverboard down the ramp into the skate park. But when they got to the bottom and reached the judge, what they found brought Jak to a stop.

The communicator that was supposed to be the judge, normally hovering in front of the nearest ramp, was on the ground. In pieces. From the looks of things, it had been both sliced and smashed.

As Jak dismounted from the hoverboard, his communicator flew toward the wrecked object, floating around it frantically. "What in the world?" Keira exclaimed. "Who could have done this?"

"Problem, Jak?"

Jak and Daxter looked to the right, where the interrupting male voice had come from. What became immediately apparent was a complete suit of green armor leaning against the wall. The armor moved as Jak took notice of it. The helmet of the armor fully encapsulated the head of the wearer, making Jak wonder how anyone could see out of it at all.

As the armor shifted off the wall, Jak noticed one other odd thing about the helmet: There was no room for the wearer's ears. Krimzon Guard armor left holes open in the helmet for their naturally long ears to poke out. This one, again, fully covered the head and body. So this person had to have really short ears.

"It's nothing to get upset about," the armored figure spoke again in a mocking tone. "Surely you have better things to do than impress your girlfriend with some lame-o high score. Y'know, shooting bad guys? Punching thugs? Saving the world? That's what you brooding anti-hero renegades do best, right?"

Jak was certainly confused, but now this stranger was starting to tick him off. "Who the hell are you?" he demanded.

"Me?" the stranger said innocently. "Oh, I'm just a kid… An average, run-of-the-mill kid who happened to stumble across a magical land and gain superpowers because of it."

Concerned, Daxter leaned in toward Jak's ear. "Jak… This guy kinda sounds like…"

"I know," Jak said harshly, shutting Daxter up. This guy's voice… sounded too much like Alexander's. But younger.

"What did you do to my equipment?" Keira demanded.

The armored young man shook his head. "Geez, do you put up with this attitude all day, Jak? You should try it my way. I've got girls practically throwing themselves at me." He seemed to get contemplative. "Although I gotta admit, your girl's quite the looker… Maybe that's her redeeming quality."

A spark of violet raced across Jak's chest. "Shut. Up. NOW."

The stranger laughed. "Aha! We've already hit the 'shut up' threshold!" He continued to laugh, but it quickly transitioned to a dark, sinister laugh. Finally, the stranger took a step forward and looked directly at Jak. "Tell you what. I came here to get that board and that girl. But it looks like we got to them at around the same time. Maybe you got here before me. But hey, I'm a sportsmanlike kind of guy…"

The figure held up a hand encased in an armored glove. The hand was enveloped in an inky black smoke for a moment, and when it dissipated… there was a dark green shield in its hand, bearing the Heartless emblem and a keyhole in the center.

Jak took a fighting stance, one hand reaching for his gun.

"Nuh-uh!" the stranger said quickly, and Jak's hand stopped. "Hey, look, we're in the middle of a skate park. There is literally no better place for some awesome non-standard combat. Hold on a second…"

With a great swinging motion, the green-armored figure threw the shield high, high into the air – almost completely out of sight. Just as quickly as it had disappeared, though, it came back down. And how.

The next thing Jak knew, a great metal slab dropped out of the sky and drove itself into the ground next to the enigmatic soldier. The sound it made upon impact was extremely loud, making everybody but the armored stranger flinch.

Jak did his best to recover and get a good look at what had just been summoned. The large steel object was slightly embedded in the concrete, but even then it nearly reached the stranger's head in height. But instead of a flat piece of metal, it was curved inward… much like the shield had been. It was a dark green on the convex side and black on the concave side.

Without even looking, the stranger grabbed the large, curved object and yanked it out of the ground with surprising strength. The armored man then released its hold on the steel slab and let it fall… but instead of falling to the ground again, it came to a rest a couple of feet above the ground, floating in midair.

It was then that Jak instantly realized what this was. Now that he could see that this thing was curved downward, longer than it was wide, and colored similarly to this man's shield and armor…

This was some kind of gigantic, shield-shaped hoverboard.

"Anyway," the stranger said at last, standing in front of his creation. "Here's what I propose. You and I have one great big hoverboard battle right here in the Stadium. Your JET-Board against my Glider. Winner takes all."

Jak tried his best to look resilient. "And what if we refuse?"

The stranger just laughed again. "Then I go back to the shield and kill you with magic. And I take your girlfriend anyway."

Daxter grimaced and shot a look at his buddy. "Jak, take this punk down!"

"Gladly," Jak muttered.

"Then it's on!" the stranger announced, and jumped onto the great green Glider. As soon as his feet were firmly within the inside of the hovercraft, it seemed to come to life, moving fluidly through the air. A wide beam of green light appeared out of some sort of exhaust at the back of the Glider, prepared to propel the craft forward.

As Jak prepared his own hoverboard, the stranger cackled and declared, "May the best player win!"