After I got to Dead Town, I saw that I was greeted by... none other than Rush, her being in her human disguise, atlas moth wings and all. But I was spooked enough to get my hand to my gun before then holstering it. "Yeesh, girl! You need to give a warning before you do something like that!" I frowned at her, which Rush smiled at me.
"I felt something was off... you're doing nothing to try and hide the power within that stone. Lucky you, Kor is way too old to sense for it as good as he should be able to," Rush said, me gawking before then frowning at her. "Also, I heard that you happen to have taken in my nephew in the city. Why? I need to get him back to Wolo in the Spargus desert," she said, me frowning at her.
"Because he's my brother," I frowned, which she looked at me in confusion before then chuckling a bit.
"Haha, you're a funny girl. Why say that he's your brother again? What makes you think he might be your relative?" she asked as I then simply took off my ear armor... and when I did this? She then got big eyes from seeing my short ears. "Oh... you're... you're a human. Like Lola is... and Gertrude, too," she said, me raising my eyebrow at that.
"Answers. I need answers here, Rush. How is it possible for my mom to have a halfbreed child with a Metal Head Leader, where is my Aunt Gertrude, and tell me how the hell I'm supposed to hide this stone's energy output," I frowned, Rush then sighing.
"Okay, okay, okay, I'll tell you as you go to the old hut. My children already cleared most of the way there, but there's only a few grunts that are hiding in wait," she said, us then going froward through the place as she then spoke some more on our way, no titan suit required. "The reason for your mother having a union with Wolo? He was gravely injured when he was attacked by Kor's Metalpedes, as he's trying to expand his nest towards Spargus and Wolo prevented him from doing so. Lola found him and rather than slay him, nursed him back to health. He then entered into a small truce with her in secret from Spargus's citizens. That, so long as they were together, they'd work together to help upkeep the Metal Heads from Kor's invasions as well as protect Spargus for Lola and Wolo respectively. And to cement the union, they had a child from combining your mom's DNA into a Metal Head egg laid by Wolo," she said, me looking to be confused before she then explained. "Basically, Wolo sucked a bit of her blood and fused it into a fresh egg."
"Gross," I frowned as we then took out the final of the grunts, which Rush then explained further.
"Your Aunt Gertrude is safe from harm in Kras City, where she's living with both me and Rayne. We need to stay vigilant in that city, however, because the Mizo crime ring runs the place. But so long as I provide them with my offspring for any of their racing gigs or trophy hunting, they don't come for me. Rayne and Gertrude, not so much. Rayne because she's Krew's daughter and Gertrude because she's living with Rayne," Rush frowned.
"I see... is Rayne gross like Krew?"
"No, she's not even a blood relative. She's adopted." Crisis averted. "And as for how to hide the signature of the Precursor Stone? You'll need to find a way to suppress its signature in your backpack. Your best bet is by hiding a crystal of eco inside of it. I believe that I happened to see one such kind of crystal at Haven Forest, it being crystalized Green Eco," Rush said, me smiling as I also saw that she had her children lining the way to the Sacred Site, which they all looked to be... birdlike as opposed to insectoid. And most were of the flightless variety.
"Your kids look much different than Korraquon's, don't they?" I asked, her smiling at that.
"Yes, they do, I know. Each of us different Metal Head Leaders have a class of animal from the far past that we base our children on. Korraquon chose bugs, because of course. I chose avian birds, Wolo went with reptilians, Halow likes mammalian predators, and Chilla prefers aquatic and amphibious, given she lives in the Icelands," Wolo explained.
"Quick question. You live in Kras City, Wolo in a place called Spargus, and Chilla in a place called the Icelands... where does Halow live?"
"The Brink, an area on the edge of the planet. In that area, everything is sent from the top of the planet to the other side of it, as it's where the biggest explosion in World War 3 happened in your timeline, where it nearly demolished the entire planet... it took out almost all of an area called South America, almost halfway through the radius of the planet. Any further and the core would be compromised," she said, me gawking at that.
"Hard to imagine we were so close to nuking our planet away in our own hubirs..." I groaned. And then, we finally reached the hut, where I felt it. A ton of green eco nearby, all in a single seed. I then managed to find it... hidden inside of the pot that held the carnivorous plant. I then picked it up and called up Samos.
"Hey, Samos? I think I found the thing. Is it a green seed completely coated with Green Eco?" I asked.
"Good work there, Dory! Before we went through the Rift Gate, I hid that Life Seed in the roots of my old Mercury Lurker Trap plant. It seems the Metal heads are drawn to its energy. I'll need you to bring the seed to Samos," he frowned.
"You mean you?" Rush asked.
"Who said that?! I mean the other me! My younger self needs the seed to become... sagely," Samos said, which it was time for Rush to be confused.
"Wait... you mean you're a time traveler? And you have a younger version of yourself that's going to become a sage in this time, before you send him back in time? How does this make sense?!" Rush asked in confusion.
"Seriously, who is that, Dory?" Samos asked in confusion.
"Um... she helped me get to the seed. She's a warrior from another settlement that the Metal Head Leader isn't attacking, that being Kras City," I explained. I then tried to sense for life energies near where Samos was... and was right to worry. Because he was next to the young Samos, Torn, and Kor.
"And what's her name?" he asked.
"Um... she says her name is... Speedy Gonzalez," I said, Rush looking to be about to speak up before I shushed her and made a motion to make her get the gist. I pretended to be a creepy bug, which she got what was going on after.
"I have a feeling that you're lying, but I don't care. Just be careful who you ally yourself with. Go and take the seed to Onin so she can prepare it for my younger self." Samos frowned, me nodding at him as I then proceeded to the gate and Rush then gave me something that made me... confused. It looked to be some weird-ass trinket that had a button on it. "That will help you immensely when going against a Metal Head Leader. We leaders have a very acute sense of hearing. If you use that device, it'll make Korraquon's hearing go completely deaf, so he won't be able to hear you. Big problem for us Metal Heads, as we use sound to hunt. We have bad eyesight, you see," Rush smiled as I then proceeded to see a plank of wood on the ground by the gate and proceeded to throw it at her, which she simply tanked it. "See? I saw at least 5 of them coming at me from 10 angles, but it was just one," she smiled at me.
"Remind me to never try to see through your eyes, then... or have you drive me anywhere," I smirked. I then went back into the city afterwards and proceeded straight to Onin's hut, where I saw that Onin was actually already having a visitor in the form of Maia, but Maia was also joined by Tess!
"This is weird, not going to lie. I know I need to train in this stuff, but light eco seems to be way too freaky for me to get a handle of it," Tess admitted as she then managed to manipulate the flames in the room with Red Eco, as well as using it and combining it with some of the air and then seeing that it caused a small crackle of small fizzy fireworks in a small, condensed ball.
"Careful, Tessy, fire spreads," I smirked, that getting the buxom bandit to gasp and look at me in surprise. "I came here with the Life Seed, Onin, so it can get prepared for young Samos," I smiled.
Onin then proceeded to edit the seed and Tess then smiled at it.
"Hmm... it looks like it's full of power and life... maybe I can get some training from the Shadow after he becomes a sage?" Tess smiled.
"Maybe, or you could go for the guy who's been a Green Eco sage for over 20 years," Maia smiled.
"You mean his old version? I don't know, he's uh... very crotchety," Tess pouted.
"Agreed on that much, but he's the best guy to learn it from. Go to the stadium and he'll be there to teach you," I smiled, Onin then finishing the Life Seed's preparations as I texted the old fart that he'd be getting a visitor from a trainee of Green and Red Eco Sagehood.
"Take the prepared Life Seed to the Shadow in Haven Forest. It will allow him to see the forest through the trees. Go, quickly," Pecker said, Onin then giving me one simple warning as I left.
"Remember, Eco can be used for more than just destruction and death," she signed, me smiling at that. I knew what she was referencing. I didn't want to kill any guards and she knew that.
"Thanks for the tip, Onin," I smiled back at her as I then went towards the forest, going the cheater's route over the different huts and not getting stopped by the guards once! But when I got to the door? I saw that I didn't get out without being seen by a couple guards.
"Halt!" shouted one of the guards, me gawking at that as I then ran for the double doors and rushed inside, me using the power of green eco in the pressurized room to push the guards out of the room before the door could close! I did get short on breath after, but the door then opened to Haven Forest and I breathed in the crisp, mountain air in victory.
"Gotta hurry, because the KG is onto me," I said with concern as I then went through the portal and then to the Precursor Platform. I rode it the whole way to the forest and, afterwards, proceeded on KG jetboard to the Shadow's life force, it being by the base of the biggest tree. I then took the seed to him right away.
"Your younger self told me to get the seed to you," I smiled at him.
"Yes, indeed... I can sense the energy coming from the Life Seed. It will allow me to finally become a sage," he smiled... but then, we gawked at how a bunch of KG zoomed overhead in jetpacks and let down some trackers on the ground, me shooting the trackers dead, which caused an alarm to happen after!
"Protect me from these guards, Dory! I must ask the plants vital questions about our future!" Shadow said, me nodding as I proceeded to take up residence right in front of Shadow and turned into my dark form, me feeling the anger in my system.
"It's all your fault that the KG are attacking now! How are we going to stop them, bitch?" my angrier self asked in my head.
"Just use any Eco you can aside from Dark. And do not use Green or Red either, as that may harm the plants!" I said.
"Oogh, you are making it hard on BOTH of us!" she shouted in anger from my mouth instead, me then gawking at how she did that! She then proceeded to use the water from the nearby lakebed to go to the guards' transport ships and proceeded to clog their engines full of water! This caused the ships to fall to the ground and become incapable of movement, but the guards soon piled out of it and went up the steps towards us.
"There they are! Step away from the seed!" shouted a KG member, me seeing it was female and that the guards were surrounding us from all angles. I then proceeded to try mixing yellow and Blue Eco together... and after doing so, I gawked at how I managed to make a burst of energy that made the guards defy gravity, and float in slow motion! And I saw it didn't affect me or Shadow Samos at all! I then proceeded to, while the guards were floating helplessly, took every weapon from every guard, disabled the jetpacks of the flying guards, and also confiscated all of their ammo rounds and siphoning their eco into my eco tanks in my bag! And by the time the effect ended and I needed to stop for fear of getting side effects of motion sickness and blurry vision, the guards were all disarmed and were on the ground, groaning in pain and confusion.
"What... just happened?... Rgk... I feel so sick..." said one of the gaurds, her being a female. She then proceeded to puke on a stone, me frowning at her as the other guards were also sick, but didn't have anything happen.
"Go back to Haven City now, before we consider you as prisoners of war in the Underground," I frowned at them, which got one of the KG guards to growl at me. And I saw that it was actually someone that looked oddly familiar... it didn't look like a family member from my line, but he did look like a family member of one of my friends in this world.
"Like bloody hell we are! We were told to come here to stop Underground activity and find the one who violated the zoomer zone laws, and you steal our weapons and hold them against us?! You must think us daft as all hell, don't you?!" asked a guy that was just as blonde-haired as Tess, but he also had yellow armor on him and he sounded a bit more country-esque, much like how Tess was a ditz. I then searched his life energy from Green Eco in my bag... and it made sense.
"I'd recommend not getting into an argument against me. Because I doubt Tess would be happy if she found you were yelling at me," I frowned, which made the guy gasp.
"You know where Tess is? Yeah, right! Baron said she was banished to the Wasteland over a year ago!" he frowned.
"No, she speaks the truth," Shadow said as he then finally finished and I could feel it. He'd become a Sage of Green Eco. "Tess is an invaluable ally to the Underground Movement, in charge of spying on less than savory types and designing weapons," he said. "But more to the point, the Life Seed gave me a terrible vision. The Baron plans to destroy the Precursor Stone!" he said, the guards looking at him in confusion. "He aims to crack it open, somehow! If he does this, the energy expelled would be beyond comprehension! It'd destroy everything in the world and more, ending all life across the galaxy!" he said, his fear making some of the KG members look scared.
"B-Baron would never do that! An' what are you sayin' about a seed talkin'?!" asked one of the KG soldiers, me frowning at him as I sighed.
"He's become a Sage of Green Eco, and thus, he can speak to plants. And I can hear them too," I said, being truthful. Though faint, I could hear the flowers and the trees of Haven telling me to never allow the stone to be cracked or devoured, lest the universe quake into nothingness. "If the stone is destroyed by Praxis or, worse, devoured by the Metal Head Leader, then numerous galaxies would explode into stardust. Planets, asteroids, stars and more would cease to exist, as the stone's destruction would cause a massive singularity that would suck up and destroy anything it touched... by the way, I'm sure you've heard the news by now. Why side with a ruler who is willing to threaten his daughter with death in order to find out where the Precursor Stone was?" I asked, that making the guards confused before they then checked their communicators and, after a bit, they then gawked at the voice message that came out on each one, one at a time.
"Oh... my god..." said one of them, me seeing it was a sergent, meaning he was one step ahead of me in the KG. "Hmph. Very well, but the Baron wouldn't expect us to return empty-handed, so what do we tell him?" he asked, me then looking to the nearby cliff face and seeing that there was, get this, a bunch of crystal Green Eco in the cliff face, which I then grabbed some of it and placed it in my bag, thus hiding the signature of the stone completely!
"Here's what you tell him," I smiled as I then decided to throw them something that I had on me. What was it? A finished tally of the Eco collection from Adora Plorex, specifically. You may ask where I got the last of the Dark Eco? From the polluted and tainted water of Dead Town! "Tell him that Adora Plorex, who is one of my mates in the guard, has finished the eco tally for 'the plan'. He'll know what that means," I said, them frowning at that.
"Ain't she gonna tell it to him personally?" asked another KG guard. "And what are you going on about? Is Adora Plorex part of the Underground?"
"No, she's not part of the Underground, I can attest to that. I mean, she's always on missions with Commander Errol, so when would she have the time for that? I just know her because she saved me and I saved her. Mutual understandings and all that," I smirked, them frowning at me. "Now, go on, shoo. This forest doesn't need you guys sticking around," I frowned, them growling at me, but them simply marching off towards the drop ships and calling in for some extra assistance. As for what I heard in private on my guard communicator as I left with the Shadow where we came from?
"This is Sergeant Pix, requesting clean-up of two dead Hellcat Guard transports... and a lift back to the city? We're in Haven Forest," the voice said, which Errol then groaned.
"Ugh, seriously?! What even happened?" he asked in annoyance.
"We were trying to find Underground activity, but we got major engine failure from the Shadow. He then stole all our weapons before we could even fire them!" the guard said, Errol frowning at that.
"Understood, sending out search and rescue ships as well as ship retrieval units," Errol frowned, me smirking at that. "Just don't be late for 3 in the afternoon. It'll be my Class 1 race against Teams Keira and Mizo, so don't be late," he said, me gawking at that. I'd be competing against racers from Mizo's group?! THAT made me shocked and worried at the same time! But after the Shadow and I got back to the double gates, he then sighed in relief.
"Thanks for the assistance. I can get back from here. Your skills at Eco channeling are quite adept. Do tell, are you actually just channeling it? Or are you a sage in secret?" he asked, me shushing him.
"Not going to say at all, because I don't want to cause a paradox. Just don't be surprised when you get at least 18 years older than you are now when a surprise guest appears at your front door," I smirked, him looking at me in confusion before we then left, me getting an update from Jak.
"Hey, I heard that someone wanted to meet with us at Krew's bar. Dax and I are heading there, you want to come with? There could be trouble, because it was an unknown caller," he said, me nodding as I then confirmed his mission and headed for the saloon, going inside to see that Tess was in there and she looked at me with a smile.
"Hey, how's it going?" she asked as I smiled at her.
"Nothing much, just uh... look, I don't know if you'd say yes, but me and Dax are in an open-arms relationship kind of deal," I said, noting that Daxter was actually on Jak's shoulder, which he looked at me with a smirk.
"You sly crocodog, Dory! Are you suggesting letting her in on the loving of Orange Lightning and Dory the Destroyer?' he asked, me smiling at him as Tess smirked.
"Oh my! I uh... never expected you'd have feelings for me... oh, what the hell? I'll reciprocate," Tess smirked as she then leaned over and gave me a kiss on the lips... and I was surprised by how good a kisser she was! And when she finished, she then gave Dax a hug right against her massive tits... but I wasn't impressed by them. Try having Tess's bust size when you were 4 foot 3 inches and the bust was the same shape, length, and width, but the rest of your body was shrunk. Yeah, that's what I was dealing with, thank you very much!
"Hey! Back to work, toots!" Krew said as he came in on his floating chair.
"She's working, butterball! Quit yer yappin'!" Daxter spouted back as Krew then growled.
"Cork it while you can, or you might end up as yet another trophy on these walls," he said, Daxter then fainting and me growling at that.
"Quite! Uncalled for, Krew," I frowned at him.
"Mm... Listen, I have a proposition for you, Dory and Jak. I want you to throw the championship race. Just let Errol win," Krew smiled, Jak growling as I got more mad.
"You bet against us?!" Jak growled.
"When you were the one who signed us up in the first place?! What about all the deals you got on the contract? Toy lines, mood rings, cereal boxes, GAME RIGHTS! You're just gonna throw those all away?" I growled at him.
"Dory, Dory! It's just business... you two are symbols of hope for those townies. They'll bet anything on a glimmer of hope. What better time to make money? Ah... What do you say?" Krew asked, Jak about to speak up before I then hushed him and I smiled.
"Alright, Krew. How about this? I'll make a bet with you right here and right now about this whole thing," I said, him smirking at that as he got to my level. "The price? 80 Precursor Orbs and 1 Power Cell to the winner of the bet," I smiled, Krew chortling at that, me showing that I had the funds to deal with.
"I'm listening," he smirked with a big, flabby smile. I could smell the rotted flesh in his mouth.
"Here's the bet. We're going to race to our best ability, with the sole aim of getting the gold records. If we get even 1 gold record for the Class 1 racing championships, then the loser pays the winner the moolah in person AND they have to do them at least 1 favor, no if's, and's, or but's," I said, Krew growling at the first part, but him frowning as he then looked at the bet money he'd make for the race compared to the bet he'd made with us. And I saw the bet he made for the race? 3 Precursor Orbs with a betting average of 20/50/30. The 50 was for Krew's team and the 20 was for, get this, Baron's team! Yeah, the people were speaking up and Baron's support for the races was thinner than they'd ever been, according to the graph stating that the Baron bets were at an all-time low!
"Hmm... very well! A power cell and 80 orbs would offset the losses if you won and didn't get the record and net me a profit of 15 orbs at the market. Very well! Your bet has been made! But if you win, I will not be happy," Krew frowned at me as we then proceeded to shake hands, me then immediately grabbing some hand sanitizer from Tess's booth and washing my hands of Krew's disgusting skin. And then, we were interrupted by someone, me looking at the person in surprise for one reason.
"In a hurry to die, aren't we?" asked the voice of, guess who, Razor! The number 1 hitman of the Mizo crime family! "Well, we don't have to wait for the big race, now do we? My name is Razor. Maybe you've heard of me? I work for Mizo... eventually everyone in Kras city does. Your showing up all of Mizo's top records at the stadium, and that's not good for business. Let's race from here through the city to the Stadium, using accelerator rings. No weapons, just pure racing. But if you miss even one ring, you lose. If you fail, however? I can just kill you three right where you stand," Razor said as he showed he had a VERY fast quickdraw, almost a blink of an eye and he shot at a wine glass on the counter with such good accuracy, it honestly made me both jealous AND scared!
"Uh... you're on!" I said immediately as Daxter got on my shoulder and we rushed out of the place, getting ready to race for our lives. Because our win depended on survival. We immediately got onto three different zoomers of the fast variety and the rings were brought down via some drones, straight from Mizo city!
"Three! Two! One! RACE!" Razor shouted, us then zooming through the city in a street race without wheels!
...
You may be wondering who won? Me. Jak 2nd, Razor 3rd. And when we did, Razor frowned at us.
"Hmph! Impressive, I will admit. Fine, race to your heart's content. We'll be sure to collect your heads when they eventually pop off. This city makes ours look like a baby's crib, so watch your backs, or I'll have them transported to me so I can use your spines as knife sharpeners!" Razor growled at us angrily before then zooming off.
"Oh, blow it out your ass! You were toilet-fed, weren't you?!" I asked out loud, Razor actually braking midway after I said that, before continuing on after figuring out he may lose the insult contest.
"Playing with fire, are we? That's why I love ya!" Dax smirked at me. We then got a message from Keira. It was for an important meeting for all the 'time travelers'.
"We're right outside and are entering asap," I said as I then went into the stadium with Jak and Daxter and saw that Keira was in the garage and she was there with Samos, Jilly, Maia, and Diego at the same time.
"So what're we here for, Keira?" I asked her.
"I'm going to show you what I've been working on with help from Jilly and Diego, but only if you promise not to laugh," Keira frowned.
"Ooh, I love secrets! And I love to laugh! Show me, show me!" Daxter smiled.
"Dax, hush," I smirked at him as Keira then revealed it.
"I've been rebuilding the Rift Rider that we used to get here from old parts and artifacts since I arrived," Keira smiled.
"That's my girl!" Samos smirked after.
"But I'm still missing two pieces!"
"Figures."
"Hah!" I smiled at the old coot's response.
"I need an ancient piece of technology called the Time Map as well as a very powerful gem known as the Heart of Mar. And I've looked into every single book on history and Precursor events out there... but the Rift Gate seems to have vanished!" Keira said.
"Hmm... Maybe I can figure out where it's at! I have been getting better at sensing Precursor Technology since training in Light Eco," Maia smiled as she then tried to sense for it... and then, after a minute's worth and us wondering if she was okay, she then gasped as she then fell onto the ground before picking herself up. "Oh god... that's the WORST location we could've EVER hoped for!" she exclaimed.
"Where is it, Maia?" Jak asked.
"Right smack dab in the Metal Head Leader's nest! Right next to his disgusting hatchery! Only Korraquon has been able to get in the nest... he must've moved it there since entering into our world far in the past!" she gawked. Or... Wait... AH! I got it now! The Metal Heads entered our world from the Rift Gate... but whereas we were sent far into the future via the Rift Rider, that's what tethered us to our own timeline and world! The Rift Gate summoned the Metal Heads from a distant planet!" Maia gawked.
"You got all that from just sensing for the Rift Gate?" Jilly gawked at her.
"Well, y-yeah, all of it! Only people in that Rift Rider can safely travel through time and back in the same location they arrived from! The Rift Gate spat us out above Haven City because the layout of the land changed because of the Metal Heads' influence!" Maia said in shock.
"By the way, the Heart of Mar is in Krew's hands!" Jak said with intrigue.
"And I saw him get a Time Map, too! We'll get those artifacts, Keira, no matter what happens," I said. And then, the announcement came on.
"Attention all Citizens. The Class 1 Racing Championship is about to begin," the computer said, me smiling at that.
"Here it goes, the race of all time. Keira, we'll bring back the gold, but I'd recommend staying in your personal room when we win. Who knows what the Baron will react with when he sees me, Jak, and Daxter being the winners," I smiled, noting that all three of us would be going for the race, but this one was also a different one. Where we'd be driving 1 lap each and that when one of us ended a lap on the track, the next group would join in from the side of the track they were kept at! So when Jak crossed the line, then it'd be me, and finally Maia! And the records for the track? Best Lap, Best combined time, and Most Damage Dealt/Least Damage Taken, as this race was also different in the fact it had WEAPONS! This time the hover bikes would have weapons that would attack you, each one being machine gun fire! And if you took too much damage, you were not only disqualified, but there was a high chance you might also explode! It's why the races with Errol were among the bloodiest!
"Okay, this will be a dangerous one, so everyone needs to stay as safe as possible and as fast as possible. Let's get going," Maia explained, us then going to the track and getting into position with Jak going to the start, me going to a side area that was partially blocked from the main track... and the final group with Maia being stationed on a hovering platform above the track by at least 12 feet!
"Ooh, this is gon' be good!" I smirked as I then overheard Jak speaking to Errol.
"No matter who wins this, I'm willing to let bygones be bygones," Errol said to him.
"Um... ditto," Jak said back to him, me smiling at that. Finally, the commander of the KG was on the side of good! And he'd made up with Jak on top of that!
"Greetings, citizens of the glorious Haven City! I, Baron Praxis, am expecting another great day for racing! If, for any reason, anyone should defeat grand champion Errol, they will be given a month's supply of Eco!... -And a short tour of the palace to see how the other half live-... Good luck! And die bravely!" Baron shouted, the crowd still making noise, but NOT for Praxis. They were cheering for Team Krew's members. And after Baron shouted GO, it was time to race like our lives depended on it.