After returning through the warp gate to the power station, the group dispersed to avoid drawing attention to themselves. Samos dragged his younger self off in one direction, while Jak, Daxter, Ben, the Mane 6, Hilda, and the Eds escorted Tess back to the salon. The group both did their best to ignore how Tess was fawning over Daxter, making mental notes to tease him mercilessly about it later.
When they got there, they were relieved to find out that Krew was sleeping, meaning Tess could slip back into place as though nothing had happened. Sig was also there, but he seemed to have no interest in spilling the beans of Tess' situation to Krew. He had his own concerns.
"You kids are all right, and since the boss is out of it right now, I'm going to give it to you straight. I've been Krew's heavy for years, and I've done some things I'm not proud of, but this time, I think Krew's gotten himself, and us, into something really nasty. I'm thinking of getting out."
Daxter grinned. "Oh, Sig's beginning to like us, guys! Come here you big lug! Hugs for everyone!"
Sig held Daxter back before shushing everyone as it was at that moment Krew began to wake up.
"Hey there, stuffed crust. How's it feel floating on top of the food chain?" Daxter asked. "Ooh, Krew-meister! Have you been exercising? You're looking good! You are definitely, mm, living large! Mhm. And those legs! They're so uh, chiseled."
Krew rolled his eyes. " I need you to escort three of my boys down into the sewers and visit that statue again. I've heard that Mar's cheeky face might contain another secret, and I want you to see if the stories are true, eh! Make sure all three of my boys get to that statue, and they'll do all the rest, hmm?"
The group happily moved to vacate the location as soon as possible. Thankfully, they were able to find an elevator up from the area of the sewers the statue was in and was available for the others to go down with him, along with Krew's three demolition boys. They started to mouth off, plainly expecting just to do their own thing however they wanted regardless of what the others tried to do. Jak established right out front that he would have none of it.
"Stay behind us, stay together. Don't go wandering. If you see a Metal Head, get close to us so we can keep you alive." He primed his blaster before pointing it straight at the three. "Endanger the mission, and I'll shoot you myself."
"Or I could just eat you right here and now," Ben added with a menacing growl.
"But...But Krew said you had to bring us back alive!"
Jak lowered his aim, making the group pale further.
"I never said MY shot would be lethal."
Once everyone understood each other, Jak led the way in. There was a new type of Metal Head, one shaped like a spider with a laser weapon, but it went down quickly to concentrated fire from Jak, Applejack, and Hilda. Occasionally, the Metal Heads tried to get them in a pincer attack by crawling over the walls and ceiling to behind the group, but they handled that by having Twilight, Rarity, and Pinkie shift to guarding the rear.
At one point, they wound up surrounded in a large room as a full swarm of Metal Heads covered the ceiling, but Ben grinned. Charging the residue Yellow Eco that had been injected into him, he fired at specific locations within the swarm. When the blasts hit, they released an electrical cloud that zapped all surrounding Metal Heads into non-functionality.
"Nice shot!" Eddy commented.
"Wicked cool!" Rainbow added.
It wasn't long after that before the group reached the Statue of Mar. Before Jak or Shining could stop them, the three demolition boys had carried out their orders and demolished the statue...recovering a gem they called the 'Heart of Mar'.
"There's what we're looking for, the Heart of Mar gem!" One of the three men, Jinx, said. "Thanks for the escort, people! We'll take it back to Krew."
The destruction they'd unwittingly participated in didn't sit well with any of the group...and their 'reward' of a Peacemaker Dark Eco modification for their Morph Guns didn't mitigate it all that much. Imagining what those mods could do to Krew helped a little.
Deciding to relax after that last mission, the group stopped by the garage to check in with Keira. However, when they got there, they only found Erol waiting for them.
"Well...if it isn't the Dark Eco Freaks."
Jak glared. "Where's Keira?"
"Don't worry, I'm keeping a close eye on her." Erol sneered. "You and your friends are the talk of the town, Jak! You give the people hope...how pathetic. I would have enjoyed killing you and your brother in prison."
"I'd love to see you try." Ben scowled back, shifting his arm into Dark Blade form.
"It would be wise not to threaten a Captain of the Crimson Guard," Erol chided, though the Mane 6, Daxter, and the Eds could smell the fear pouring off of him. "Besides, it will be so much more satisfying to take you on the track, in front of the entire city! I can hear the roar of the crowd now...as everyone sees their hope die!"
"HA!" Rainbow laughed. "Jak'll kick your behind so badly, you'll be begging for Praxus to give you a demotion just so you won't have to see him again!"
Jak chuckled. "I'm hearing is a spoiled lap dog pretending to be a fight dog, barking because some other dog got his favorite bone."
Erol lunged, reaching for his weapon, only to find Twilight's Eco Blade at his throat.
"Don't make me use this, Erol. Back off and leave us alone." The Alicorn Girl ordered firmly.
Growling deep in his throat, Erol pulled back before storming off. As he left, Keira came in through another entrance, alongside Samos.
"It's good to have you back, Daddy."
"Yes, it's nice to be free again."
"Glad to see we're all a happy family again." Applejack smiled.
"Sorry if you came across the tail end of our conversation with Erol," Ben said. "He was trying to piss on us but we pissed on him back."
"He's still in one piece, right?" Keira asked worriedly. "There's pretty strict regulations about racers sabotaging each other before the races, and-"
"It's alright, Keira. The only thing that got wounded was his pride." Hilda smirked.
"And possibly his undergarments!" Eddy added jokingly.
Laughing, Jak headed out to win the Class 2 race, pausing long enough to exchange a chaste kiss with Keira. Samos felt his eyebrow twitch as Ben sighed and patted the old man on the shoulder.
"They grow up so fast..."
As the group was supremely confident in Jak's ability to win the race, they felt no need to stick around to see its outcome. Instead, they decided to head back to the Underground HQ, to see if they could do anything else towards freeing Haven City...only to find there was nothing that needed to be done. The Baron had greatly diminished his military activity within the city, for some reason. Samos did have a task for them unrelated to the Baron's activities, however.
"There's something I left behind long ago in my hut. It's time to retrieve it...oh, and clean the place up while you're at it!"
"There's the crotchety old man we know and love." Rarity giggled.
"It's good to have you back, Samos." Fluttershy smiled warmly.
The group wasn't about to refuse as they were certain they could handle making their way through Dead Town to Samos' old hut. When they got there, however, they discovered Keira had left them something, probably via Ashelin, to help him get through himself.
"Rolf calls the shotgun!" Rolf declared as the Titan Suit had enough room for everyone to pilot.
"GUNDAM SOUND EFFECTS!" Ed cried as he and Pinkie manned the controls.
It was rather enjoyable to be stomping around and smashing everything they came across. It also included an input jack for Twilight's horn, letting her inject her magic into the suit to electrify the exterior to keep Metal Heads from holding on. The jetpack on the Titan Suit's back made jumping a great deal more fun than it had ever been before.
"I'VE NEVER FELT SO ALIVE!" Hilda laughed.
Once making it to the hut itself, they found a glowing green seed near the peak of the hut.
"Good work, everyone!" Samos proclaimed through the communicator as Applejack took the point to retrieve the seed. "Oh, and Daxter, I suppose."
"Glad to see that hasn't changed." Daxter scoffed.
"Before we came through the rift long ago, I was nurturing that Life Seed from the Great Tree. It seems the Metal Heads are...attracted to its power. Take the seed to Onin. She will prepare it for Samos."
"You mean the younger you, right?" Ben asked.
"Exactly!" Samos confirmed. "He needs the seed's power to become...sagely."
"Let me get this straight," Daxter began. "It's fair to say that by bringing your younger self the Life Seed now, we helped you become the sage you are today. We helped you get your powers in the first place! And you never thanked us?!"
"I all but raised all of you," Samos countered.
Daxter hesitated. "...Fair enough."
"Now go do it!" Samos ordered. "Jak's going to meet you at Onin's hut. He had...a bit of a problem with Erol while you were gone. Something about refusing to throw the Class 1 race for profit and racing through the city, and now Erol wants to kill him in the final race."
"Oh, he's gonna wish he hadn't done that!" Rainbow sneered. "Jak will eat him for breakfast!"
"Hope he saves some on the side for me..." Ben growled out excitedly.
It didn't take Onin long to properly energize the Life Seed so The Shadow would be able to use it to awaken his powers as a sage. Applejack had the foresight to hand the Seed off to Jak and let him bring in, preventing yet another conflict between Daxter and Pecker.
With the energized Life Seed in hand, Jak led the way to Haven Forest to meet up with The Shadow, where they found him waiting for them in the center of a peaceful glade deep within the forest, at the foot of the largest tree. He looked...peaceful.
"One sagely tree seed for you." Ben said as he did an extravagant bow.
The Shadow accepted. "As confusing as it is, I do understand what needs to be done. It will help me speak to the plants-"
At that moment, several Krimzon Guardsmen in jetpacks dove in, from the sound of their shouts, they were under orders from Erol rather than the Baron.
"Looks like we'll have some fun, after all!" Rainbow grinned.
"Take this, you ruffians!" Rarity snapped as she used her telekinesis to uproot several rocks and send them crashing into the guards.
The attacking group wasn't that large, and it didn't take long to deal with them. With that done, Samos achieved his Sage abilities unmolested. The plants told him of a grave danger...that had already been averted. He found that oddly peculiar, but Jak merely glanced away with a smirk.
"You're hiding something from us, aren't you?" Ben said.
"Spoilers."
On the way back into Haven City from the forest, the group was briefly accosted by Brutter.
"Thank the totem I sees you. You help Lurkers once time, you help us twos?"
"Rolf's brethren have been stolen yet again?!" Rolf snapped. "We must free them!"
Since the only major task on Keira's plan regarding saving Haven involved Jak winning the Class 1 race, the gangwas willing to help since they had nothing else pressing at the moment. Besides, Keira's research showed the Lurkers to be valuable potential allies.
"Hard to believe the Lurkers are on our side now." Daxter commented.
"Well, it ain't all that crazy when you consider how much time has passed here." Applejack pointed out.
The same strategy as before worked well, especially with the overall reduced Krimzon Guard presence in the city itself, yet another sign of Praxus' work to assist them. When all six Lurkers were freed and safely escorted, Brutter came to them on the comms.
"Great smelly breath of a goosesnake! Heroes to lurker people you be. Bang our chests in much happy thanks!" Brutter laughed. ". You honorary members of lurker tribe now. We not forget, if ever you need us, we help you!"
"Once more, for saving Rolf's people, you have earned the Pit of Victory!" Rolf said as he rubbed Ben's armpit.
"Well, we're just those kinds of people."
With the Lurkers saved, the trio decided to swing by the Power Station to check on Vin. As usual, he was in a bit of a tizzy about something.
"What's the news?" Twilight asked after making a good amount of noise with her hooved feet on the metal floor so Vin would know he was there.
"There's good news and bad news," Vin replied as he struggled to stay calm. "The good news is that there's enough power online to keep the Shield Walls up, so the city's safe for now. But I don't know how long the system can hold..."
"And the bad news?" Jak asked morosely.
"We've detected a cluster of Metal Head eggs growing up at the Strip Mine site," Vin explained. "You three need to go back there and figure out how to destroy them before they become a whole new army of creatures!"
"I noticed the crane was carrying a large metal container," Jak pointed out. "If we could get on top of it, we could drop it from above."
"Why don't I like the sound of this plan?" Daxter asked worriedly.
"Because the risk is high and you're worried you won't handle falling well?" Applejack offered.
"Sounds about right," Daxter agreed. "Let's just get this over with."
"We can take it! We've made it this far, right?" Eddy pointed out.
The strip mine site was all but abandoned when the trio got there, meaning that the only obstacle to carrying out the plan that Jak came across was the mining machinery and the jumps he had to clear on his jet board. Since he was the only one who could use it to grind on the various pipes, he had to complete the mission alone, not that it took him long.
Once he was back, they went back to the Power Station through the warp gate...only to be informed by Kor of the danger of the Baron having the Precursor Stone, and young Mar. Jak did his best to suppress his amusement, given what he knew, much to the confusion of the others. However, to maintain Praxus' cover, Jak set out on Kor's instruction to destroy the Eco Control Tower at the drill platform to prevent the Baron from using Eco against the Underground.
Much to Jak's surprise, a pair of Titan Suits awaited them at the drill platform. This made the journey to the control systems for the tower both straightforward and quite direct, as they severely overpowered the few Metal Heads that were in their path.
Once they reached the control center, Jak glanced around.
"So...how do we shut this place down?"
"I assume they left us these suits because we were supposed to smash stuff," Rainbow offered.
"Good point," Daxter agreed.
"Always fall back on the Golden Rule, I suppose." Double-D sighed.
"That's my kind of plan!" Hilda grinned.
After they'd smashed the computers for a time, however, they were forced to abandon the Suits as the whole place began to explode. They made it to the warp gate just before the whole place exploded.
As the Class 1 Race was coming up soon, Jak decided they'd best check in with Keira. Unfortunately, she had two bits of bad news.
"I told you how I've been rebuilding the Rift Rider...but I'm missing two key artifacts to make it work. The first is the Time Map...and the second is a gem known as the Heart of Mar."
"Krew has it," Jak explained.
"But don't worry, we'll get it back." Ben asurred.
"There's more," Keira countered, worried. "I miscalculated the effectiveness of the Light Eco you used on Praxus. I didn't take into account how long it would be until you could use it. We've only got a few more days before the Metal Head Leader can influence him again."
"Umm...what?" Everyone else asked, confused.
"Long story," Jak explained. "Short version, I need to go win that race now and taking on the Metal Head Leader just became a much higher priority."
"Then get out there and win the race already!" Twilight ordered. "We'll talk more after you win!"
Jak chuckled. "You're the boss, LSBFF."
Jak was unsurprised to see Erol roaring mad when he pulled up.
"I want more than just to win, Eco Freak! I want you!"
Jak chuckled. "Hmm...which would be the better comeback? 'That's what she said' or 'You aren't my type'? What do you guys think?"
This last he directed at the other racers, who laughed happily.
Praxus himself stood on a floating platform, announcing the race.
"Greetings racers!" he proclaimed expansively. "Today your nerve and skill will be tested for our amusement! If any of you manage to beat our Grand Champion, Erol, then you will be awarded a month's supply of Eco, as well as a tour of the Palace! Good luck, and fight bravely! Ready...get set...go!"
Jak's familiarity with Zoomer tech from riding the original prototypes Keira created back in Sandover proved to his advantage, as he was able to pull well ahead of the pack and maintain his lead over Erol as well. Jak claimed victory rather easily.
As he went to collect his month's supply of Eco, however, Erol tried to run him down while screaming in fury.
"I WIN, JAK!"
"Do you really?" Jak smirked as he swiftly dodged out of the way.
Erol couldn't stop in time, his eyes widening in horror as he was heading straight for a bunch of Eco barrels.
"NOOOOO!"
With a scream of abject terror, he crashed into the barrels, becoming engulfed in a massive explosion of Dark Eco. Jak and Praxus flinched as they averted their gazes before seeing that there seemed to be no trace of Erol remaining...
As the crowd started going wild over Erol's rather violent and public death, Praxus quickly escorted the group out of the stadium and into the palace before anyone could notice what was happening.
"That was unexpected...but oddly a relief."
"A relief?" Daxter asked, surprised.
"It was becoming more and more difficult to keep Erol under control," Praxus explained. "He'd become more and more erratic, especially since I stopped actively hunting you. The other day, I heard him ranting to someone...and he got a response of some sort."
"You think he started cutting his own deal with the Metal Head Leader?" Hilda asked.
"Considering they were able to influence my mind, your death and Keira to do with as he pleased?" Praxus offered morosely. "A single implant in my skull let them twist me...how many deliberately planted ones would it take to completely control someone?"
Rarity shuddered. "Well...good riddance to that wretched fiend, then."
"So, Jak, care to explain how he's on our side now?" Ben demanded in confusion and slight anger.
"He was being twisted by signals from the Metal Head Leader due to Dark Eco in his implant," Jak explained. "Keira gave me some Light Eco from the Power Cells to counteract it until we can take the Leader out."
"Speaking of which, the boy is doing alright. Ashelin's taken her old job of watching over him, which made him happy. He was even happier when his Crocodog somehow circumvented all our security measures to get to him." Praxus said before sighing worriedly. "Unfortunately, during that event...someone managed to steal the Precursor Stone. Tracking it down has the highest priority, but..."
"Is there any chance it was Metal Heads?" Jak demanded quickly.
"Not a chance," the Baron insisted. "The defense turrets have been updated with the energy signature of active Metal Head focus crystals, and take them out full force if they come anywhere near the palace."
"Then where was Krew last seen?" Hilda inquired insistently.
"Last report had him at the Weapons Factory," Praxus replied. "The weapon intended to break the Precursor Stone is being dismantled there, and he's the one who designed it."
"I wouldn't put it past him to want to use it just for the thrill of it," Double-D grumbled. "We need to get the Heart of Mar back from him, anyway. I wouldn't be surprised if he's got the Precursor Stone as well."
"Should I send some Guardsmen, or are you going to take care of it?" Praxus asked, smirking.
"We'll be done before you can get anyone there," Jak replied. "But could you spare a Zoomer?"
The final battle is almost upon us. Erol is down for the count so now we just gotta deal with Krew and the Metal Heads!