After finishing up at the Power Station, the gang decided to go get a drink and hopefully relax for a bit before heading out on the next mission. As they entered the saloon, however, they saw a large Krimzon Guardsman in full uniform leaving. Krew practically pounced on them once the guard was gone.
The Baron sent his goons to harass me as usual, eh! Health violations, back taxes! Everyone wants a piece of me. Ah well..."
"Well, pieces of you would certainly violate the health codes," Eddy joked.
"And you've got plenty of back to tax!" Daxter added, the pair bumping clenched paws in glee.
Krew was unamused as he turned to Jak. "Destroying that cargo in the Port was more important than you know, eh? I've got a new project going, and I don't need anyone snooping around my shipments."
"New project?" Applejack asked.
Krew smirked. "Let's just say, if everything goes as planned, I'm going to corner the market in Metal Head trophies."
"Yeah, pretty sure that ain't ominous..." Rainbow muttered to Double-D, who nodded in agreement.
"Anyway, I have another job for you. An associate of mine, Brutter, works with me in the forced labor trade."
Jak scowled. "You mean the SLAVE trade."
"Uh, I prefer 'freedom-challenged'." Krew corrected delicately. "Lurkers are the city's low-class labor, Brutter pays me handsomely to help him free Lurkers and get them safely out of the city. Ah, it lifts my spirit to help those in need...and I need his money!"
"Lurkers?" Daxter gasped out, shocked. "We don't like Lurkers!"
"We've had...bad experiences with them where we came from," Ben added.
"But nobody deserves to be enslaved!" Fluttershy protested.
"You should listen to the little one, makes things work for both of us." Krew chuckled before tossing some upgrades to Jak, Hilda, and Applejack. "And you DO like gun upgrades, don't you? There are three Krimzon Guard transports carrying Lurkers to a 'project' the Baron has outside the city. Take out the transports, and bring the three Lurkers to Brutter's trinket stand in the Bazaar."
As the group left, Ben flexed angrily, his eyes glowing an eerie purple as the glowing veins on his body pulsated brightly.
"Keira...how much would it skew your plans if we went back in and skinned Krew alive?"
"Quite a bit, I'm afraid. We need to keep him in place until we can take down his whole network."
"Then let's get this over with," Twilight grunted.
"A friend of ours has a deep connection to the Lurkers." Double-D said. "It'll do him good to see them saved."
Since the three transports were close, the gang split into three groups to take them down. Each commandeered an A-Grav Zoomer, shifting into position near the transports. Jak, Hilda, and Applejack took out all three transports simultaneously with their Blasters. As the Lurkers ran and the Krimzon Guard converged, each of the three groups collected one of the Lurkers on their Zoomer before shooting off in three different directions.
Some Krimzon Guards were catching up, only for them to be shot down or stabbed by a dual-edged Eco Blade made of Yellow Eco, which also doubled as some kind of 'gunstaff'. The one who took them down was a young man with tanned skin, yellow tattoos, navy blue hair, and a unibrow.
"Thanks for the help, mister!" Pinkie thanked.
"Rolf!" Ed smiled. "It is you!"
"Bring Rolf's family to Brutter, Ed-Boy! Rolf shall hold them off here!"
Once all three groups had shaken off pursuit, they made their way to Bruta's trinket stand in the Bazaar, managing to get there all at the same time.
"Little yellow warrior!" Brutter, a rather large, red Lurker with nice hair and glasses, proclaimed happily, shaking Fluttershy's hands. "You have do great thing for Brutter and Lurker people!"
He gave Fluttershy kisses on the cheek and strokes of her mane as she giggled sheepishly. The one known as Rolf soon arrived, having taken out the Krimzon Guards he had been fighting off.
"Rolf is in great debt to you for saving his people. You have Rolf's aid in the fight against the Baron and the Metal Heads!"
"Your people? But you're a human!" Ben pointed out.
"Rolf was raised by the Lurkers. He feels a bit closer to them than to other humans." Hilda explained. "However, there are some humans he likes, such as me and the members of the Underground."
"Yeah, we were pals with Rolf way before we met Hilda," Eddy smirked. "He's a pretty cool guy once you get to know him."
"Some of the customs he inherited from the Lurkers are a bit...bizarre, though," Double-D added.
"Duly noted. Though I must say, I appreciate skin art." Rarity said as she admired Rolf's tattoos.
The gang, with Rolf now tagging along, headed back to the saloon, where Krew had another job waiting for them.
"Hmm, years ago, when I was an art... 'collector', I hit the local museum to, hm, 'borrow' a famous statue of Mar, the founder of Haven City. In his hands, the statue held the Ruby Key to the city, an artifact of surpassing beauty, and, of course, priceless worth, eh!"
"Oh! I just love art!" Daxter grinned.
Krew swatted the Ottsel away. "While smuggling the huge statue through the sewers, eh, a grueling rainstorm flooded the whole place. The statue, and five of my best men, were swept away."
"How simply dreadful." Rarity commented.
"Yes, a tragic loss. I've missed that statue ever since. The sewers have been so full of water and Metal Heads that I can't get anyone to go down there and retrieve the artifact."
"Swindler!" Rolf scowled. "You who are larger than a slug filled with Yakkow meat wish to pawn the duty to Rolf's comrades!"
"Hmmm, you're quite smart for one raised by Lurkers," Krew commented. "Now go down there, drain the sewers, and find that statue at the bottom. Bring back the Ruby Key artifact, and it will open up doors beyond our wildest dreams, eh!"
"If I wasn't already exposed to so much mud and grime on my adventures, I'd file a complaint. Rarity huffed.
"Yeah, mucking in the mud ain't my idea of a fun time," Hilda grumbled in agreement.
"I hate to burst your bathtub bubbles baby, but that ain't just mud down there." Daxter quipped.
"Yeah, a perfect place for Ed, I'll say," Eddy added.
"I love the way the mud cakes my fur, Eddy!"
Double-D gagged. "So unsanitary..."
It didn't take the group long to get back to the sewers, which, aside from being more empty, were no different than they had been on their last trip. It turned out that the path Jak needed to take to reach the Ruby Key was only passable via jet board, so the others decided to wait for him and Daxter to return. They didn't have long to wait, as the duo were back in under five minutes.
"So what now?" Ben asked.
At that moment, Brutter's voice came over the communicator. "I hears you two look for a piece of Mar's shiny seal; Brutter loves shiny bright things too! I have piece I thinks, it in Water Slums hanging over me hut, and you free to have, gift from Brutter."
"That," Jak replied to Shining as the message ended.
"Brutter provides many things! Rolf can attest to this!" Rolf said.
The piece of the seal proved to be exactly what Brutter had said. As soon as they collected it, another message came through.
"See? Nice and shiny, yes? All yours! ...uh oh! I think Red Troopers approaching!"
Brutter proved to be correct, as a Krimzon Guard transport had pulled up and troops were jumping out of it...one at a time onto the narrow walkway over the water that led to where Jak, Hilda, and Applejack stood, Blasters primed.
"...Praxus needs to fire whoever's in charge of teaching these guys how to assault a fortified position," Jak grumbled as he opened fire.
"Or even a bottleneck point," Applejack added, her own weapons fire backing up Jak's.
"Why not leap over the buildings to flank us?" Hilda noted.
"I'm not about to complain about having things too easy," Daxter suggested reasonably as the gang made their way safely out of the Water Slums.
"Yeah, but a part of me wants more feisty prey." Ben hissed before extending his arm, Dark Eco tendrils bursting out and pounding one last remaining Krimzon Guard in the face, knocking him out. "It just feels insulting after what Jak and I went through."
Once out of the slums, the trio decided that Onin the Seer would be the best one to consult about the Seal of Mar fragment. Reaching her hut, they found that The Shadow was there waiting for them as well, Pecker on his head.
"The birdbrain and I were just talking about you. Onin is very proud of what you did."
"What we did?" Fluttershy asked curiously.
Pecker shrugged. "What you did, what you'll do; it's all the same."
"Will you stop with the deja-voodoo stuff? It's creepy!" Daxter snapped.
"Onin says you must find the Tomb of Mar." The Shadow said.
"Even now, Baron Praxis seeks the tomb, but only-RAWK-the one true heir of Mar can open the Tomb's seal." Pecker added.
"I think we kinda know what most of the plan is." Twilight said. "So what's in the tomb little Mar needs to fetch?"
"The fabled Precursor Stone is rumored to sleep within the tomb, stupid! I added the "stupid" part." Pecker snapped. "The Precursor Stone contains vast eco energies. It can be used for great good or...great evil! Heh, I just love saying that last part!"
Pinkie giggled. "I know, it really adds tension!"
"So where are the other two pieces of the Seal of Mar?" Jak asked.
"One is inside the Lurker Totem at the dig site," the Shadow explained. "We haven't determined where the last piece might be."
"Easy enough to find," Jak confirmed, turning to lead the group out to the dig site. "Figure out where the third one is while we're gone."
"We're all in this together!" Rainbow said.
Back at the dig site, the group found a few scorpion-like Metal Heads wandering about, but they went down easily to the Scatter Gun. The bulkier ones took more than one shot but still went down easily. The more concerning danger was the rivers of magma running through the site, adding an intense sense of danger to the mission, especially since Jak's Jet Board wasn't properly shielded to coast over magma.
Moving deeper into the dig site, the gang found themselves confronted with a labyrinth of switches, rotating platforms, and rivers of magma.
"Okay, this makes no sense," Daxter grumbled.
"What makes no sense?" Ed and Pinkie asked.
"That these protections would be here?" Jak guessed.
"No, that they wouldn't have been dismantled when they were excavated!"
"Unless the entire chambers were excavated intact," Twilight countered.
Daxter raised his paw in protest, only to yield.
"Okay, there's that."
It took nearly half an hour of careful exploration of the site to find all the switches they needed to press to clear the path forward, and by that time everyone except Rolf was hot, sweaty, and tired. Jak then led the way across several pools of lava, allowing Daxter to ride his shoulder and Twilight to teleport herself and her sisters after him, doing their best to deal with the excess heat. Ben and Rolf skillfully parkoured around while Hilda did what Jak was doing with the Eds riding on her shoulders.
Towards the end of the dig site, they encountered some smarter Metal Heads, which kept their distance and hurled Dark Eco grenades from above. Rolf managed to find a clever way of dealing with them, using his Eco Gunstaff to bat the explosives back at them.
"In honor of Rolf's allies and clan!"
Beyond that, a slope forced them to climb up platforms while evading spiked metal balls rolling down towards them. At long last, they finally reached the Lurker Totem, the Seal piece glowing near the top.
"I got this one." Ben said before extending Dark Eco tentacles from his fingers to work the seal piece out of the statue. "Wonder what makes it glow?"
"Maybe it's reacting to the blood of Mar in Jak?" Twilight offered, panting for breath.
Shrugging, Jak pocketed the seal piece and slung Twilight, Fluttershy, and Rainbow over his shoulders before making his way out. Hilda and Ben doing the same for Pinkie, Rainbow, and Rarity.
"I desperately need a spa day after this..." Rarity groaned.
"Hey, fellas!" Daxter called out. "There's a portal behind the totem!"
"Whoo! Lucky break!" Eddy cheered as everyone went through.
After everyone took a relaxing shower back at Hilda's place to cool off, they made their way to the saloon for some refreshing beverage. When they got there, they found Tess and Sig at the bar, with no immediate sign of Krew. As everyone took a welcome moment to relax, Daxter took the time to brag about the recent missions.
"So there I was, toe-to-toe with five of the nastiest metal heads you ever saw! Slime oozing from monstrous jaws! Teeth sharper than daggers! Slowly, all ten of them surround me. But do I surrender? No! I summon my highly trained killer instincts, and pounce! Hiya! Hiya! Wha! Hah! And when the dust cleared, there were twenty less Metal Heads in the world!"
"There weren't THAT many, Daxter." Twilight corrected while rolling her eyes.
"Eh, I couldn't have described it any better myself." Eddy shrugged.
"Oh, Daxter, you're amazing!" Tess breathed, scratching his back just where he liked it.
"Quite the story there, golden boy," Sig teased. "I guess you're just the animal I need for another dangerous gig. Combat Metal Heads have now been spotted right here in Haven Forest! These new bad boys have special camouflage, so they're tough to spot; but I'm sure with your "killer instincts" you'll manage. Go to the forest and take 'em all out."
"Hold on a sec!" Hilda said before chugging a large mug in a single sitting, followed by a massive belch that shook the whole saloon. "Okay, now I'm ready!"
"Good heavens, such a horrid lack of manners!" Rarity commented, pinching her nose.
"I don't know, I think that was kinda hot," Ben smirked.
"Dear lord, have you no shame?" Double-D asked in exasperation.
"Whatever shame I had died after what the Baron put me through."
Hilda chuckled and gave Ben a grateful peck on the cheek, making him look away with a small glow on his face, which made the Mane 6 and Tess giggle at the sight.
The gang made their way to the forest. The Combat Metal Heads were indeed tough to spot as Sig had suggested, though they tended to give themselves away when they opened fire. Not only that, the camouflage didn't work perfectly when they were moving and also failed to fully conceal the crystals embedded in their foreheads. Though time-consuming and nerve-wracking, the gang was eventually able to eliminate all 30 of them.
"Wish we could have done this during the day," Ben muttered as he crushed one of the forehead crystals spitefully.
"Well, it's over now. Let's head back." Jak said.
Once the trio made it back to the city, Jak decided that it would be a good time to check back in with Keira in person. None of the others disagreed, although they shot Jak sly grins which he pointedly ignored. Partway there, however, Ben spoke up.
"Say, Jak...how about the rest of us take that Ruby Key to Krew before he comes looking for it?" He suggested slyly. "He's probably upset we haven't handed it over yet, and the last thing we need is him showing up at the wrong moment and overhearing the wrong conversation, given Keira's long-term goals."
Jak smirked. "You aren't fooling me for a moment...but I won't say no."
Passing the Ruby Key over, he made his lone way to the garage. Hilda and Rarity both giggled playfully while Fluttershy blushed shyly at the potential romantic scenarios. Twilight could only sigh dejectedly.
"Do you think when I grow up, I'll find love?"
Ben rubbed Twilight's mane. "I don't doubt it for a second, LSBFF."
After dropping the key off with Krew, the gang went back to the Underground HQ to see if there was anything they could do while Jak was spending some time with Keira. They found Torn waiting for them.
"The Baron's coming down pretty hard. Whatever you've been doing, you've really upset him."
Ben grinned. "We're just getting started..."
"He's brought in new Krimzon Guard HellCat cruisers, making the streets dangerous for the Underground. We've already lost five men."
"That's horrible!" Fluttershy gasped.
Applejack narrowed her eyes. "I reckon we'll handle that varmint's troops!"
"Hero Jak would be here as well but he is busy with the frolicking of Valhalla," Rolf commented.
"As long as he's out of sight. Much as I hate to admit it, we can't afford to lose him." Torn grumbled.
"Got any Eco Mines?" Twilight asked. "Red for preference."
"...a few," Torn admitted evasively. "How many do you want?"
"How many Cruisers are there?"
"Five, but I don't see how you can-"
"Red Eco doesn't react to heat or flames until activated," Twilight explained, making Torn grin widely in response.
"Oh, this is gonna be FUN." Hilda snickered.
The Hellcat Cruisers were readily identifiable. With careful aim, Hilda was able to fling each Red Eco mine up into the Cruisers' systems, attaching them to the engine exhaust near the A-Grav Generator. Once she'd attached a mine to all five Cruisers, she moved to a centralized location and set off the remote detonator, sending all five Cruisers to the ground. Since the mines were designed to eradicate all residue themselves, it would look like a catastrophic failure of the A-Grav Generator due to overloading.
"I love it when a plan comes together!"
"Wish I could've torn them apart myself but Twilight's plan was the more secure option." Ben hummed as he watched the fireworks.
Torn contacted them over comms as soon as the explosions occurred.
"Not bad, not bad at all. That'll leave a mystery for the Baron as well, which will be good for us. By the way, Onin wants to see you. I've already told Jak."
"Thanks Torn. We're on our way." Twilight smiled.
On the way to Onin's hut, the gang reunited with Jak.
"So... How'd things go with Keira?" Daxter asked teasingly. "Did you...take your time this time?"
Jak rolled his eyes. "We didn't do anything like that. Besides, we aren't going to as long as the Metal Heads are an issue. We just...spent some time together. It was...nice."
"Awwwww!" Pinkie cooed.
"And I'm on her racing team, now. Won the Class 3 race." Jak added.
"Seriously?" Eddy demanded. "The Baron sent brand new combat cruisers out to hunt you down...and you're racing?"
"Last place he'd look for me," Jak joked as he entered Onin's hut.
"He's got a point, Eddy." Double-D conceded.
Inside, Kor seemed to be in a heated argument with Onin via Pecker.
"Expecting that little boy to save us is folly! At his age, he is no match for the Metal Head leader." Kor snapped before noticing everyone. "Oh, hello...we were just talking about Samos' plan."
"Onin says your voice sounds very familiar. I'll bet you two golden oldies go way, way back, huh?" Pecker noted as Onin glared at Kor.
The gang, especially the ever-analytical Twilight and sharp-minded Double-D took note of how Kor flinched back from Onin's gaze. Before they could think further on it, however, Pecker continued.
"Onin has noticed you all don't like all the mystical mumbo jumbo and long-winded explanations, so much to my relief she's going to be brief. Each seal fragment was positioned in such a way to test you, in order to energize them so they can open the door. The first tested your strength against the Krimzon Guard. The second is your skills against the dangers of the mine. Now, Onin tests your mind."
As Onin began working her magic, Jak, Ben, the Mane 6, and, surprisingly enough, Hilda and Rolf could all feel the energies flowing, following patterns in the air before them. Without even thinking about it, they all focused on the patterns, following them with their thoughts. Jak's Eco as well as that of Ben, Hilda, and Rolf's and the Mane 6's magic flowed out, following the patterns...and before long, anticipating them. As this occurred, the third piece of the seal took form out of the ether, a twin to the first. The three pieces fused together in the air before everyone before falling into Jak's hands.
"Behold! The Seal of Mar is now complete." Pecker proclaimed. "Onin says the three artifacts you've retrieved from the Mountain Temple-RAWK-are relics from an ancient Light Tower. Old songs tell how this Light Tower once shined down on the actual site of Mar's tomb! I sing one of these songs for you-"
"NO!" Rainbow snapped.
"If you into an over-dramatic song, I will sit on you!" Hilda added angrily.
Rolf nodded. "Rolf has been craving monkey-bird stew as an appetizer for Nana's feast!"
Pecker winced. "On second thought, I'll just tell you what you need to know. You must take the three artifacts to Mar's Gate. Only then will the Light Tower rise, and reveal the Tomb."
Jak, Daxter, and Ben chuckled as they and the rest of the gang prepared to go. None noticed that Kor had already made his way out.
Lots of stuff happened this chapter! Things are only heating up!
And yes, the surprise guest I teased in the previous chapter is none other than our favorite Son of a Shepard, Rolf! Here, he's been raised by the Lurkers so as to explain his place in the lore of the Jak & Daxter universe.
Also, it seems Hilda and Rolf have unique Eco signatures of their own if they could connect with Jak and Ben. Hmmm...what does this mean, I wonder...