Chapter 4:

The Situation Revealed

Coco lay on a bed in the Freedom HQ with the back of her right hand laid on her temple. Her eyes fluttered open, the blur of colors and shapes around her focusing until she saw Crash looking down into her face. She gave a relieved sigh, it had all been a dream, they hadn't all been captured and Crash hadn't learned to talk…Crash talking, yeah right.

"G'day Sleeping Beauty," Crash said very audibly in the same Australian accent from her "dream".

"Oh no, so it wasn't a dream?" Crash shook his head.

"Nope, first we were sucked through these wormholes, and then I find myself being taken away by the men in red upon which you guys come and rescue me and Mr. Purple in the other room. During that, Dingodile comes and tries to take you away but I use my new Dark side to kick his butt and now here we are at Freedom HQ in scenic Haven City." Coco's head was swimming with everything relayed to her.

"So we can't go home?" Crash smiled sympathetically, rubbing one of her ears affectionately.

"No, but it's okay kid, we'll get out of here. Now I'm sorry to say this but I think Aku and I are agreed upon when we say you should stay in here." Coco's eyes flared and she snapped Crash's hand away.

"Crash, how many times have I proven I can take care of myself?" she growled at him. Crash snorted in response.

"Oh yeah, like in the prison when you went running off on your own and got captured by Dingodile?" Crash folded his arms and glared at his sister. She also folded her arms and pressed her back against the headboard of her bed.

"You know, if it wasn't for me you'd have given Cortex all the Crystals without a second thought!" she yelled from her place on the bed. Crash sighed and pulled Coco into an embrace.

"Hey, I know you can take care of yourself for the most part but there are those times when you get into a fix that you just can't get yourself out of. I only say that you can't because I care about you, I don't want you to get hurt." Coco sighed, wrapping her small arms around Crash's waist. Her older brother picked her up and carried her out of the room into the large meeting room.

Back in the main briefing room, everyone was trading stories about their previous adventures. Jak told tales of Gol and Maia's Lurker army and the Precursor Robot. Daxter told his tale of his adventures fighting the Metal Bugs under the employment of Osmo while he worked for the Kridder Ridder Extermination Company. Jak then told of his work for the Underground fighting Baron Praxis' regime and the Metalhead invasion; then telling of the three way war between the Freedom League, the Metalheads, and the KG Deathbots. Finally he told of the Kras City racing championship and his fight alongside the dashing Captain Phoenix against the Aeropan Empire. Spyro told his story about his first adventure fighting against Cynder and her ape forces. Then he told of the Night of Eternal Darkness and Gaul the Ape King, finally telling of Malefor's release and his and Cynder's epic battle to reseal him in his tomb. Crash got his turn and told of his first epic journey across the islands to rescue his love, Tawna. Then he told of how Cortex tricked him into collecting the Crystals and only Coco's intervention saved the world. He then told of his and Coco's journey through time to save the Crystals from Cortex's minions. Then he told of the introduction of Crunch and him and Coco defeating him. Finally he told the final story of how he actually worked with Cortex to defeat the Evil Twins and everything that went in with that crazy story.

After everyone was done laughing about Crash's hilarious story, they went to being in serious business. Torn tried to find a plan of action but it turned out they hadn't got enough information to do anything.

"I'll admit it to you guys; we have no idea what they're doing." Everyone showed some sort of exasperation for Torn having not completely thought this through. Suddenly, a transmission started coming through the hologram port in the middle of the room. The hologram of Cortex's unmistakable, bulbous head appeared there, earning the attention of everyone in the room.

"Ah, the brave heroes allied to stop us," he chuckled softly.

"Us?" Cortex looked slightly surprised at Crash's sudden ability to speak but got over it quickly.

"Why yes, you wouldn't know him but I think Jak would be familiar with him." Cortex chuckled as his hologram shimmered away and was replaced by a very familiar one to Jak.

"Erol!" Erol laughed at Jak's outrage.

"Yes Eco Freak, I'm back and I've got friends. We will eliminate you all with the power of the Dark Forces: Dark Eco, Dark Element, and Crystal Energy. I underestimated your intuitive sense that would lead you to the Old Krimzon Guard Prison as the obvious place we were holding Crash and Spyro. Then, Crash was able to save his sister from Dingodile, meaning we couldn't recapture him and turn him into the perfect weapon against you and the weakened Spyro. I guess we also underestimated the power that Spyro possesses, or else he could never have destroyed the generator and freed himself. I underestimated many things, but no more, this time you will die, the forces of the Metalheads are already being transported to the Wumpa Islands and Spyro's homeworld. But don't even think of going back, the gate is being guarded by N. Tropy and the Eco in our atmosphere has given him some quite extraordinary powers so not even you Jak can beat him." Erol shimmered away, leaving everyone just staring at each other. Ashelin was the first to speak.

"Well it seems obvious what we have to do. Before any offensive attempts can be made, Crash and Spyro have to go back to their homeworlds and save them."

"Well how do they do that? Didn't you hear, this guy has Eco powers that not even Jak can stand up to; and he's the most talented Eco channeler in history." Ashelin sighed.

"We need something to beat him, but how do we do that?" Everyone looked around, pondering Ashelin's question. Suddenly, Jak started swaying slightly, his eyelids drooping until they finally shut and he collapsed onto the floor. Daxter leapt on top of Jak's unconscious form, slapping his face.

"Jak, Jak, JAAAAAAAAAAKKKKKK!"

Jak opened his eyes, his blurry surroundings becoming clear. It looked like he was in the Catacombs beneath Haven City going to the Planetary Defense Center. He got to his feet, looking at what looked like the Center itself. Instead of the trio of Ottsels that were the Precursors there was a shimmering white light shining from inside the spherical device. The familiar, booming voice that the Precursors used to disguise their rather unimpressive stature came from the portal.

"Jak, the world has need of you again. Your talents as an Eco channeler are the only thing that can allow you and your fellow heroes to save those other worlds."

"Yeah thanks, I think I already figured that out for myself so let's just get to the bottom of this and you tell me what I have to do," he said irritably.

"Alright, if you insist. In order to defeat the man known as Nefarious Tropy, you will need a weapon that empowers your channeling ability one thousand fold. Only one such weapon exists, it is known as the Eco Staff." A staff of Precursor metal broke through the ground at Jak's feet, allowing him to pick it up and feel it. "This staff allows you to lift objects too heavy for even the strongest, to launch projectiles of immense power, to power great cities with barely any effort on your part, and to heal yourself and others like none could ever do." The staff in Jak's hand gave a physical demonstration of each of the legendary powers the Precursor spoke of.

"Nice, where can I find it?" The staff suddenly disappeared from Jak's hand, everything disappeared. He was falling into nothing as the Precursor voice left him a cryptic message.

"The Eco Staff can be found at the Heart of Spargus, where light flows from the ground."

Jak jolted upright, sending Daxter flying off his chest and into a nearby waste basket. Daxter clambered out irritably, brushing himself off and glaring at Jak.

"You'd better know where we're going buster," he growled. Kiera spoke up in Jak's defense.

"Hey, he just fell unconscious; you can't really expect him to…" Jak interrupted her with the answer to Daxter's question.

"Guys," he looked around at Crash and Spyro before continuing, "We're going to Spargus."

Author's Note: Review if you want more.