Once we entered the palace, we went up the elevator to the Palace's throne room and, when we did, I then did as Errol did and bowed on one knee to Praxis, who looked at me with a smile from his throne.
"So, this is your new hire. The prodigy capable of slaughtering over 50 Metal Heads at the Strip Mine, eh?" Baron Praxis asked.
"Yes, my liege. Introduce yourself, soldier," Errol smiled at me.
"Me name's Adora. Adora Splora. It's a pleasia to meetcha, Baron," I smiled in Chicago accent, which Praxis smiled at.
"Yes... you have been called here to meet with someone very important. On absolutely no account do you say anything nasty to him or agitate him in any way, understood?" Praxis said, me nodding after. Praxis then proceeded to contact someone via a communications device that was in the center of the room. And the face of the Metal Head Leader appeared from it, me being fake surprised... but this would be a good opportunity to get on Praxis's good side as well as learn vital information for the Underground.
"Greetings, esteemed Baron Praxis. Pah! As if," the leader growled. As for me revealing who he was? Play the game to find out. Mainly because I didn't risk accidentally speaking out his name in his presence as the metal head version.
"We apologize for the slow eco delivery as of late, but rest assured, we will get it to you in due time," Praxis said.
"The deal cannot withstand if you cannot deliver, my dear Baron. I grow tired of your puny gestures! We need more Eco and you aren't giving us enough for our deal," the leader said, me speaking after.
"'Scuse me, Mister Metal 'ead Leader," I said, getting his attention.
"Peh! A new KG? What do you want?" he asked.
"Ah just wanted'a know... if da recent deliveries of 25 barrels plus was a 'puny gestia', den wut would we need fer the deal to succeed? Y'know, exact numbers an' all," I asked, which Baron gave me a glare at first before the leader chuckled before going into a chortle.
"I did not expect a newbie to be so wise as to ask for that. You have until the 30th of the month, 10 gallons each of Red, Blue, Green, and Yellow... and 30 gallons of Dark Eco. If the delivery is not complete, then your precious city will pay the price. I'll see you again in 5 days time," he said, me then seeing him end the conversation and for the thre of us to be in silence.
"This is grim..." Baron frowned.
"He's toying with us, I just know it! Let me lead an assault on the nest! I can take him!" Errol shouted, before I then frowned.
"At ease, soldier, yer gettin' woiked up again," I said, him frowning after. "Ah tink Ah know 'ow to get the amount we need, but it'll need to require some tings from you, Sir Baron Praxis," I said, him then nodding.
"Very well, what is your plan and what will I need to do?" he asked.
"'Fore Ah joined da KG, Ah was a bookkeeper at da library. An' it said dat Eco exists in diff'rent forms. Each of 'em is tied to diff'rent tings. Yellow's earth an' dirt, red is fire, blue's watta an' electriciteh, green's wind an plantlife, an' dark is tied to toxic stuffs an' poisons. An' I know 'ow to extract the eco from 'em wit ease," I said, which Praxis frowned at.
"Really now? Are you saying you can channel eco?" he asked.
"See, dat's one ting dat will be a requirement if ya want me 'elp. No Dark Warriah experiments anymoe. It's glorified toiture an' it'll just get rid'o my channelin' strengths," I said, Praxis frowning at that.
"Hmph. Very well, it was already abolished regardless. Next on the list?" he asked, me frowning and nodding.
"Any folks in the prison dat were falsely imprisoned are to be released," I said, him twitching his eye at that. "An' I know there are some dat were falsely imprisoned. Such as that blonde fella that's been seen 'round da city lately. 'Eard 'e was just plucked off da streets for just existin'," I said, Praxis frowning at me.
"Fine. I will look into it," he growled. "Is there anything else?" Praxis frowned, getting more ticked. But that was pretty much all I needed from him.
"Dat's all, mah liege. If dese are done, Ah'll woik ta get as much of the stuff as Ah kin. An' Ah guarantee it'll be ready an' den some in only 3 days," I smirked.
"Hmph. Fine. As for you, Errol, tell Ashelin to up her patrols. I want that tomb found!" Praxis frowned.
"But your daughter has not been agreeable as of late," Errol frowned.
"Pah! I'll see to that, one way or another. And FIND THAT CHILD! If you spent more time trying to find that brat then you spent flirting with that mechanic girl, you'd have found him by now!" Praxis said.
"Really, Errol? Ya do know she's taken, right?" I asked him in my accent still, which he then looked surprised.
"Wait, what? She is?! I never knew-" he was about to say before we heard the sneeze of Daxter above us, getting all of us to look up and see that there was a splatter of green goo on the window, but Jak and Daxter had rolled out of sight... but then? One of the windows proceeded to open... with nobody being able to be seen!
"What's going on here?" Praxis asked as the window then closed... and I felt a force of... a mixture of Dark and Red eco right near my body, but conpletely invisible.
"Show yerself, or I'll zap yer baps!" I shouted, the invisible spectre then doing just that... and it made me gasp and back up while holding out my pistol. Why would I do this? Right in front of me looked to be a Metal Head... but she looked to be a mixture of a humanoid creature with tiny ears, while also having two giant wings that were like those of an Atlas Moth and having her skin being a dark burgandy red... and a skull that glowed a bright orange.
"What the hell kind of Metal Head are you?!" Errol asked... but Praxis had already vanished, most likely to battle against Jak and Daxter.
"I am not here to harm you, if that's what you're thinking," she said, her voice sounding... almost like it were from Britain's aristocracy. "My name is Rush, and I am the older sister of the Metal Head Leader you made that foolish deal with," she said, Errol immediately cocking his gun. "I just said I am not here to harm you... I came here to warn you," she said as she then folded her wings. "My younger brother, the youngest of the elder leaders, has gone mad with power. He doesn't need the Eco for his troops. He's only gaining this eco to fuel his own power. His ultimate goal is to devour the fabled Precursor Stone," she said, which Errol gawked at.
"What?! It really does exist?!" he asked.
"Indeed, it does... just know this. If you're determined to go through with this deal, I implore you, do not deliver the Eco until the very last minute. And if you can, try to demand that Korraquon meet you in person. Only then will you have the chance to stop him and his mad conquest," she said, me nodding at her.
"We'll try to remember that... if we find out you were telling us porkies, though? I'm going to find you and I'm going to put you in the biggest bug net known to man," I frowned.
"I'll keep in mind you wish to capture me, but not kill me. Korraquon needs to be dethroned. The rest of us Metal Head leaders wish to remain civil with you Elvines. Not be besties or anything, but left to our own devices. Once Korraquon falls, all of his troops will become ours. And me and my siblings promise that they will not kill any citizens," she said, me nodding at that.
"Understood... now, if you don't mind, you may wish to steer clear of this city for now. Praxis would kill you if he saw you, pacifist or not, you are still a Metal Head," I frowned.
"I'll take my leave, then... fare thee well," she said as she flew out of the room and through the open window, as it had now stopped raining. And Errol looked at me in surprise.
"I am amazed by how good you were in this instant. You managed to stay level-headed in the face of danger and managed to get through to Praxis's thick hide as well as find out the exact amount of eco for the deal, which Korraquon never mentioned before. For that as well as convincing him to release some of our unjust arrests - hate you for mentioning Jak - I will promote you to Corporal," he said, me gawking at that widely. He then gave the badge to me right away and I then smirked at that. "Meet with me at the entry to Haven Forest in roughly 2 hours from now, at 7 at night. We've gotten word that there are some Metal Head scouts in the area. Be at your own devices until then," he said, me nodding at that.
"Aye aye, commander," I smirked at him as I then left the palace through the elevator and then down it, me proceeding to gather the eco from the water outside of the Palace when no guards watched and, when I got a huge hunk of Blue Eco, I then grabbed a gallon bottle on the ground and stuck the Eco into it. It then automatically turned into liquified form when it got stuck without air, which I smiled at, afterwards, I'd gotten half a gallon of it from just the water outside of the palace! I then proceeded to call up Torn after I hid amongst the shrubs and retracted my armor, while also keeping my fake ears on.
"Torn, this is Dory. I have quite a lot of stuff to tell you, so I'm heading to the hideout right now," I said.
"Be careful, Jak and Daxter riled up the Wumpbees nest and the city's on high alert. Do not draw unnescessary attention to yourself," he said, me nodding at him as I then got a parked zoomer and headed over towards Maintown and then, after that, going east to the slums. And once I got to the Underground, I went inside of it and met with Torn, me seeing that Kor wasn't there as of now, but the kid was as well as Tess, Maia, and Jilly.
"Well? What's the information. It had better be worth it," Tess smirked.
"Torn? Remember when I said not to tell anyone other than the Shadow? I was serious about that," I frowned at him.
"Peh, fine. I'll let the Shadow know after... everyone else, go to the bedrooms for now," he said, them groaning after.
"Uh, croptop, you stay," I frowned, her pouting after as the others then did as Torn said.
"Why include me?" she frowned.
"Mainly as an apology for the blue eco up the butt," I said, her glaring at me. "Anyways, same rules apply. Only the Shadow knows about this information. Nobody else, not even Kor knows. Okay?" I said, them nodding.
"Promise. So what's the details?" Torn asked, me then explaining the entirety of the meeting we had with Praxis. How we were in a meeting with the leader of the Metal Heads, me sharing his name as being Korraquon. And that did make Torn's eyebrow raise, but he most likely wouldn't make the connection yet. I told them that the leader gave me the exact numbers of Eco he'd need for the deal with Praxis to be kept, which was 10 gallons of each of the colored eco and 30 gallons of Dark Eco. I then told them that, after this happened, I convinced Praxis to release any of the prisoners that had been falsely arrested, which Torn smiled at.
"So that's why we've been getting a lot of new faces looking for housing in the Slums. One of 'em looked oddly like the Shadow, and I couldn't believe that Taryn was among them," he admitted.
"Yes, that's the reason," I smiled. But I would need to know where Samos was so I could reunite him with Keira and tell Jak and Daxter that all of us had been reunited again. I then explained how, after that happened, Praxis then said he wanted Ashelin to find the tomb, and he'd do anything to get her to listen, as she hadn't been as of lately. And that the Baron wanted to find 'the child' above all else, and that Errol had spent more time flirting with a mechanic... and that I told him she was already taken, as I'd met her prior and she admitted as much.
"Huh... her name wouldn't be Keira Hagai, would it? Second place only to Errol in the Class 1 racers?" Tess asked, me nodding at her.
"And the last bit, after Praxis got distracted from something involving snot and a window, most likely Jak and Dax, we got a meeting with, get this, another Metal Head Leader, this time in person," I said, which Torn gawked at.
"WHAT?! Another leader of the Metal Heads?!" Torn asked.
"Yes. She claimed her name was Rush, and she said that her brother was the only leader of the Metal Heads that was trying to attack people. As for the other Metal head Leaders including her, they want our good friend, Korraquon, to be dethroned and killed. Because he's just lusting for power, specifically, power from the Precursor Stone," I explained.
"That hunk of rock is actually real, then?" Tess gawked.
"I believe it is, since that seems to be the only reason why Korraquon would want to attack our city specifically. But the question is, where is the Precursor Stone? And where is the Metal Head Leader as of now? From what Rush looked like, it seems that she was able to take on a human form to look more approachable, just with giant moth wings," I smiled.
"What's a human?" Torn asked. Facepalm. On my face.
"It's what I am. It's why I have tiny ears. Humans come from a bygone age, before the Precursors even existed. Me and Jilly are humans. Do not ask me what humans are again, because I get very annoyed when I accidentally say 'human' instead of 'elvine'. Okiedokie?" I asked in annoyance.
"Yeesh, sorry about that," Torn groaned. "This is a lot of valuable information for sure, though. Some of it was told to us by Jak and Daxter, but they didn't mention ALL of it! So this is intriguing... they should be back at some point. When that happens, I'll have a very, VERY important mission for you three, and Tess too," he said, which Tess gawked at.
"Ah! You mean it, Torn? I finally meet the Shadow?" she smirked.
"You've been doing well as our Krew spy and your experiments with weapons. I'll explain when they arrive... and also Maia will join in, too," he said, me smirking as he then opened the door for the bedrooms and the others piled out after.
"So. Not a word to any of us, but the bimbo heard it?" Maia frowned. And that made me smack my face. Not for the rude name, but for another reason.
"Uh... Dory? What's a bimbo?" Jilly asked, me looking at Maia with a frown.
"Thanks for absolutely nothing, Maia," I frowned at her. "Bimbo is a word that is very insulting to call a woman. It means that they're dirty girls who go out with a bunch of guys for money. In the adult way. Stuff you aren't allowed to know yet, okay, Jillybean?" I asked, her smiling.
"Okay, promise," she smirked at me as Jak and Daxter then reappeared.
"Good, now we can get to brass tacks," Torn frowned as he pointed out the area to go to on the map. "Scouts have sighted movement in Dead Town. The Metal Heads are heading for the Sacred Site, just like before," he spoke.
"What happened... before?" Daxter asked.
"The Metal Heads breached the old security walls. But then the Baron pulled back, leaving everyone outside the new walls to die. Only the Shadow stayed and somehow stopped the attack." And it was Maia who spoke up.
"One person held off an invasion that large?! No way! That sounds impossible!" Maia gawked.
"And you expect us to go back out there?" Jak frowned.
"You catch on fast. If you newbies and Tess can protect the Sacred Site, the Shadow will be most grateful. He might even ask to see and meet you," Torn smirked.
"Eeee! I finally get to meet the Shadow! Heehee!" Tess smirked in girl talk, much more in character. And then Torn gave something to Jak.
"Here, I'm probably wasting this, but here's a Vulcan Barrel for your peeshooter. Believe me, you're going to need it," Torn smiled as Jak then equipped it onto his Morph Gun and I saw that Tess already had her upgrades for the job, that being the Needle Shooter, the Beam Refluxor, and the Wave Concussor. Lucky duck.
"Okay, let's head out," I smiled.
"Just don't hold me back, got it, newbies?" Tess smirked.
"Well, I could, but only because your head has more air in it than others," Maia frowned, which Tess frowned at.
"Is that an insult?" she pouted. And then I looked for myself... and gawked at what I discovered.
"No, no, it's actually factual. Your head has actual air inside of it. Hot air... almost like a mixture of red and green eco," I said, which Tess gawked at before blushing a bit.
"Ah... I actually have a reason for that... I'm in training to be a sage of both green and red eco... but it's been a slow process. And I don't dare tell it to others outside of the Underground because then they'd turn me in for the Dark Warrior program..." she explained.
"Good news, then. One of the things I think would be okay to tell you about is that I convinced Praxis to get rid of the program entirely, and he said he was in the process of abolishing it regardless... and I got him to release all the prisoners," I smiled.
"Really? All of them?" Tess asked... and then we saw that someone was waiting for us by the entry to Dead Town that made Daxter gawk.
"Most of them, yes," said the voice of Taryn, who looked at Daxter with a smile. "Some of them did actually get arrested justly, but most of us were arrested for little to no reason. As for me? Because I'm a girl. That was the only reason."
"Uh... nice to see you too, Taryn," Daxter smiled.
"So this is your old flame, huh, furball? So that means you and I aren't a thing anymore?" I then gave Daxter a look and he frowned.
"L-Look, in my defense, she didn't arrive until... this morning. And we arrived 2 years apart from each other," Daxter said.
"I'm okay with it, Daxter, but just because of the fact you probably thought I was lost," I said.
"Uh... yeah..." the furball frowned.
"And now that I'm free, I've been told by Torn to keep watch of the security door while you guys go towards the site. We don't need a repeat of the last time it happened," she said.
"So... uh... we're square, right, Taryn?" Daxter asked before I then dropped a bomb.
"Well, let's not rule anything out, Daxter. Maybe it can be... a threesome?" I whispered, which made his fur stand up on his backside and for Taryn to giggle at that as we got into the doors.
"You're into both of us? But you never met me," Taryn smiled.
"I didn't meet you, but I saw you in the prison this morning. You were in Cell block C," I smiled, which she then gawked.
"Oh, you're the one I saw going with Errol to the DW block! I thought it was even worse, because I thought you were a child!"
"Nope, I'm a little person. Dwarfism is the actual term," I smiled. And then, the doors opened and we then had to get tough.
"Let's waste some Metal Heads," Tess smirked in a badass voice as we then started to blast apart a bunch of metal scorpions. We needed to do all it took to reach the site and protect it... and then, afterwards, find out where Samos was. Our Samos, not Shadow Samos.