Jak and Shining made their way deeper into the volcano over the pits of magma, taking the path Daxter had opened for them. Other Metalheads got in the way, including a new dragonfly-shaped one that fired blasts of Dark Eco at them from midair, and took several Blaster shots to take down. The next obstacle they came across was a steam vent next to a high cliff, too high to climb. Thinking quickly, Jak and Shining pushed a stone disc from nearby onto the steam vent, turning it into a rising platform for the group.
The higher level was much further from the magma, but also had much narrower platforms, making it much more important that the trio move carefully. This became especially significant when part of one platform collapsed as Jak gripped it to pull himself up, leading to him leaping quickly onto the remaining part of the platform. "...maybe you should just teleport to me at each platform from now on," Jak suggested to Shining. "That was a little too close."
"Not a bad idea," Shining muttered, glancing down towards the magma far below.
Not far beyond, Daxter had to take action again, as the stone disc they needed for a steam vent was just out of reach. To get there, Daxter climbed up a narrow pipe, falling out the other end in a pipe slide, carefully maneuvering his way down as best he could, leaping from section to section while being careful not to fall out. Once at the end, he made his way carefully up a few platforms and springy cloths to propel himself higher, fighting past a few wild creatures as he went. Reaching the stone disc, Daxter struggled mightily to push it from the high platform, only to be unable to push it down. He briefly considered blasting it off with his Light Eco, but discarded the idea as too likely to break it.
After a time, he leapt onto the end of the disc, bouncing up and down on it. "Just shift already you stupid piece of s-"
The disc tumbled out from under him, nearly flattening him as he hit the ground just before it.
"...somehow I don't think you were going to stay 'stone'," Shining teased.
"Shut up," Daxter grumbled, returning to Jak's shoulder.
"Now I'm the peace keeper?" Jak grumbled, pushing the stone disc onto the steam vent.
At the next higher level were several steam vents, one already covered and two others constantly releasing steam. After fighting a few Metalheads, they were able to cover up the vents with some nearby stone discs and ascend higher. At the highest point, Jak had to cross a river of magma on the occasionally appearing stone platforms to climb a ladder to what was readily recognizable as more Dark Precursor relics. Shining quickly teleported to his side.
Strange metal tendrils writhed around, digging in and out of the ground as they pulsed almost organically. A stone statue of a monk held a dark purple artifact of some sort, an expression of absolute terror on its face.
"...something tells me I shouldn't touch that," Daxter muttered.
Shining approached the artifact, carefully slipping it out of the stony skeletal hands that gripped it. As he held it in his magical aura, it flared with dark purple light.
"Shining!" Jak called out worriedly, rushing forward to grab it.
The energy flared over them both, and they briefly vanished, only to reappear as the artifact shattered.
"The heck was that?" Daxter demanded, scared out of his wits.
"Some kind of...invisibility power," Jak explained. "Derived from Dark Eco..."
"Not one I'll be using anytime soon..." Shining gulped, turning to evacuate his last meal into the lava. "...ugh...Dark Eco still doesn't agree with me or my magic..."
"We need to find a way to stabilize that inside you soon," Jak muttered worriedly, resting his hand on Shining's back.
"Yeah," Daxter agreed. "I miss your super shields of perfect protection. It was a lot safer at this size when you could do that."
Shining chuckled a little, then turned to stare at the 'statue'. "I...guess we can tell Seem what happened to their monks..." he muttered, not really liking accepting that the statue had once been a person.
"For now, let's focus on finding a way out of here," Daxter countered.
"Looks like the platforms down there go somewhere," Jak stated, pointing.
"Well...only one way to find out," Shining allowed.
The platforms led them to outside the volcano, letting them make their way down around the outside and through non-magma filled passageways. This eventually led the way back to where they came into the volcano by the crashed glider...but nearby was a Dark lantern that reacted to Jak and Shining's new invisibility energy, letting them make their way past a watching eye and into a portal.
The portal let them back out in the Temple structure they'd taken the glider from, but near the base. "Huh," Jak muttered. "That was easy."
"Except that the way out is blocked," Daxter muttered.
Seeing another Dark Lantern and Watching Eye, Shining groaned. "Ugh...more invisibility..."
Picking Shining up, Jak carried him through that hurdle, setting him down once he was calmer. They then made their way down a long set of stairs, fighting some spiders that attacked.
"...huh," Jak muttered as they fought. "The last time I saw creatures like these was in the Tomb of Mar..."
"...think there's a connection?" Daxter asked as they reached the bottom of the stairs. "Whoa! What's that?"
Right before them, Dark Eco poured down the center of the room in a waterfall, puddling into a basin set in the center of the floor that never seemed to fill. "That's...disturbing," Shining muttered, stepping carefully away.
Deciding to ignore that for the moment, the trio moved into the next room, where several drone turrets were surrounding a central platform. When Jak started to approach, the drones turned towards him, so he backed away. Moving around the room, they found another Dark Lantern. Using the invisibility, Jak moved to the central platform, slamming it into the ground to lower the level. As the turrets still hadn't reacted to his presence, he charged up the Wave Concussor as much as he could before releasing a giant blast, taking out all the turrets at once.
A new path opened. Shining led the way, clearing out a swarm of spiders with his guns. The path led to an area filled with more Watching Eyes and poles to swing from. Jak set Daxter on Shining's back. "Wait here, you two," he instructed.
Using a Dark Lantern, Jak engaged his invisibility, making his way through the strange obstacle course, one Dark Lantern and Watching Eye set of poles at a time, as the poles became electrified if the Eyes spotted him. Once he'd disabled the last Eye by passing it, a direct path opened up for Shining and Daxter.
Down one last path and past another wave of spiders, Jak, Shining, and Daxter found themselves before a massive Precursor statue. However, in the distance, they saw Count Veger yelling at Seem. They ducked behind a pillar to listen.
"I want no excuses!" Veger snapped. "You told me this could be done. Now make it so!"
"But we have so little time!" Seem countered. "The Day Star approaches! You know what it brings!"
"Unfortunate, yes," Veger agreed. "We will deal with it as soon as I have full access to the catacombs. Just continue your work, and I'll deal with those idiots in Haven. I promise, you will meet your makers."
"They have already chosen a representative," Seem growled. "Darkness and Light inside of him. It will take too long to turn their attention to another!"
"You'd best hope it doesn't," Veger sniped back, "unless you think you can actually count on that foolish boy and his pets!" With that, Veger swept out, Seem soon following.
"Why are the catacombs so important?" Jak muttered.
"Umm...that platform is glowing," Daxter pointed out, gesturing to the raised platform near them before the statue that was in the center of the massive cathedral they were now in.
As they stepped onto the platform, the statue's eyes opened, light shining from within. "Greetings great warriors!" the statue proclaimed, its voice echoing and sounding somewhat distorted. "Your return brings us great hope. This planet's future is at a critical juncture. The Dark Ones have found your world again, and fate hangs in the balance where the past and future collide. You will need all the power you can muster...but the Darkness inside two of you is out of balance. Allow us to restore that balance...and grant unto you both the Power of the Light!"
As Jak and Shining stared into the glowing eyes, beams of pure Light Eco infused them both. As it passed, Jak could feel Light alongside the Darkness inside him, feeling far better than he had since the experiments. His old Eco powers also felt more stable.
Shining blinked as he felt the Light wrap around the Darkness, balancing deep in the core of his being...and his magic became unchained by the Dark Corruption, restoring it to its full capacity, strengthened by the long suppression. His eyes flared, and a shield erupted from his horn, surrounding the entire catacomb chamber.
"...whoa..." was all Daxter could say.