Chapter 9:
Jak's Trial
Jak rode up the service elevator to the top of the newly reconstructed Haven Palace. He clutched the Eco Staff in hand like he had done with his Gunstaff, a serious expression on his face. Daxter was nervously kneading Jak's shoulder with his short (but sharp) claws.
"Stop it Dax," he growled.
"Stop what?" he asked with genuine confusion.
"That kneading thing, if I wanted an acupuncture I would have asked for one," Jak growled. Daxter cringed from the look he was being given.
"It's not my fault; I don't realize I'm doing it!" Jak simply rolled his eyes and focused back on the door. The elevator stopped with a jolt and the doors slid open to reveal the treacherous path to the main tower of the palace which had become (if it was possible) even more treacherous. Jak grinned at Daxter, wagging his eyebrows excitedly at the prospect of the challenge. He ignored Daxter's protests and charged into the danger. About five feet into the bridge, it was covered in spikes. Our hero snorted and used his Eco Amplifier to blast apart the spikes that got in his way. Beyond the spikes were feet upon feet of those electrically charged platforms that shock you if you try to walk on them or jump over them. However, this time, there were no convenient platforms on the side of the bridge, just an exposed steel girder. There was also a tiny ledge in-between the platforms and the main bridge, this gave Jak an idea. He slung the Eco Staff in his back holster, slipped his fingers into that tiny ledge, and placed his feet on the girder. Jak edged along, careful not to touch the platforms, but sometimes it doesn't matter how careful you are. You know what they say: "#&$ happens".
"OUCH!" he cried as his fingers just brushed against a platform and let go of the ledge. He toppled down, just managing to hook his fingers around the girder he had used to step on. Daxter also found himself a good spot to hang on: Jak's foot.
"Well this is great, just great!" he shouted from his precarious perch.
"Calm down Dax, I'll think something up," he assured, already racking his brain for an idea. Then it hit him, one of his Light abilities was the ability to fly, well more like glide but still. He could make his way to that pole sticking out of the side of the bridge. Jak started swinging the leg that Daxter was clinging onto despite his many protests, built up momentum in it, and kicked Daxter off his foot onto a safe portion of bridge. Daxter crawled to the edge to look at Jak just as the latter let go, dropping into the mist below.
"JAK!" he cried, looking around desperately for his friend. Several moments passed without a sighting of Jak until something ghostly white flew out. Light Jak flapped his gigantic wings once to fly up to a pipe sticking out of the bridge. Swung around it a couple of times, leapt off, and stuck his landing on the bridge in front of Daxter. Daxter pulled out a scorecard with a large number 10 on it as Jak bowed.
"Alright, let's go," he said. Daxter put his scorecard back into a pocket of his pants and leapt onto Jak's shoulder. The rest of the bridge was luckily just normal bridge with a few turrets, easily dodged.
The top of the palace had been replaced with a large, cylindrical building which Crash and Coco had told him was called a Warp Room. Jak walked up the steps to the entrance, stopping abruptly as a blinding white light covered the entire area. When he brought his hand away from his eyes to look, a tall man had appeared. He had blue skin (which Daxter was quick to notice and comment about) copper colored armor, clocks in his robotic wrist and stomach, and a large tuning fork for a weapon. This man could only be Nefarious Tropy.
"So, this is the great hero, Jak," he sneered in his British accent.
"Yeah, he is, so back off or be overcome by his powers!" he shouted annoyingly. Tropy growled.
"I have better things to do than talk to a filthy rat." He swiped his tuning fork so that a Yellow Eco blast shot towards Jak. Jak ducked down quickly and got up, pissed now.
"You're not getting away with this," he swore, swinging his Eco Staff off of his back. N. Tropy began laughing, first quietly, then maniacally. He sent arcs of Blue Eco which lifted Jak and sent him onto a circular platform of Precursor metal. N. Tropy leapt and landed in the center of the platform. He slammed the spiked end of his tuning fork on the central part, upon which it activated, floated away from the palace, and began rotating slowly (N. Tropy's central platform stayed stationary). A cylindrical shield of Dark Eco separated N. Tropy from Jak, making it so that none of Jak's attacks could reach N. Tropy but not impeding N. Tropy's ability to attack Jak. Jak was forced to dodge Yellow Eco blasts, ground shockwaves of Red Eco, and Blue Eco lasers. Two Yellow Eco blasts which had to be dodged, four shockwaves which Jak had to jump over, and one Blue Eco laser (where N. Tropy launched lasers of Blue Eco from each end and span it around above his head like a baton) which had to be ducked under. Suddenly, N. Tropy's seemingly unending energy dissipated and he was left unprotected. Jak didn't take a moment to ponder the reason, just took advantage of it (he's terribly practical that way). He used his Blue Eco abilities through the Eco Staff in a blast similar to the Arc Wielder mod on his Morph Gun. Jak then slammed N. Tropy in the stomach with a blow strengthened by Red Eco, breaking the clock in his stomach area.
"Enough!" he cried, striking Jak across the face with his tuning fork. Jak was knocked back onto the other side of the platform. He moved his hand up to his struck cheek and pulled it away to see blood. N. Tropy's metal armored feet clanked against the metal platform. "Let's finish this!" he yelled, raising the heavy end of his tuning fork above his head and bringing it down towards Jak. Jak rolled out of the way just in time so that instead of crushing him, the tuning fork became buried in the metal (that's a powerful strike). Jak brought his Eco Staff behind his head like a baseball bat, charged a large amount of Red Eco in the head, and swung it so that the tong of the tuning fork imbedded in the platform broke off and N. Tropy was sent flying off the platform into the misty depths below.
With the demise of N. Tropy, the OKGs lost all leadership seeing as Cortex and Erol were now focused elsewhere and surrendered. They were now kept under lock and key in the newly reclaimed prison and the KG Death-Bots were all dismantled. Ashelin was reinstated as full governess of the city, and the heroes' business was done here. So now the three of them were standing in the Warp Room along with Coco, Crunch, Kiera, Cynder, Samos, and AkuAku.
"So," Jak said, stretching luxuriously as Kiera gave him a backrub, "where do we go now?"
"We interrogated a guard who had been around when the Villains were planning. According to him, they are going into Spyro's world, for reasons we do not know yet."
"Well, if they're in our world then let's go!" he shouted. Cynder followed him, along with Jak and Crash. Coco and Kiera attempted to follow but were impeded by the combined might of Samos and AkuAku.
"Kiera!" Samos began. "I will not allow you to enter an unknown world alone!"
"I'll be with Jak, Daddy," she said, exasperated.
"And as for you, AkuAku, I can take care of myself!" she declared proudly.
"And," Crash added before AkuAku could argue, "Crunch and I'll be there with her." AkuAku sighed in defeat and agreed. Coco grinned at her brother and turned to the console of the Warp Room. She set it to some pre-recorded coordinates and the Warp Portal activated.
"Alright everyone, let's go!" she called. Everyone except for Samos lined up in front of the portal.
"I'll stay behind I'm just not too fond of teleportation," he said, walking out of the room. Spyro cracked his neck and took a running leap at the portal.
"Let's go guys, the sooner we get there, the less time the Villains will have to wreak havoc on my homeworld!" He disappeared into the portal, finally returning to his homeworld.
Author's Note: And that is that. Review and stay tuned for Act II: Spyro's World; Geek out.