What Jak and his sisters discovered was that it took an entire day for the storm to dissipate, as in they spent the rest of the day that they spent exploring the volcano and the temple, plus the whole day following it, stuck inside Spargus as everyone waited for this storm to be over, even though Damas did reveal that it was strange for a storm to last this long, something that the siblings and their Ottsels understood since the last couple had been over in an hour or two, though this one was far longer than the others. Another thing they learned was that it was highly unusual for the Wasteland to have three storms like this, due to the fact that there had been one just after they arrived, one following him allowing them to start using the vehicles in the garage, and now this one, the strongest one that he and the rest of Spargus had experienced so far, making Twilight wonder if they might have picked a bad time to visit the Wasteland, given the fact that they had back to back storms. Damas really didn't have much to say about what was going on, other than everything he had shared with them so far, allowing them to move onto showing him and Pecker the powers that they unlocked and, at the same time, a couple of thoughts that each sister had on their new power, even though it was easy for them to see that what had happened to both Starlight and Twilight was far more shocking than what they were expecting, especially since the latter could summon five other versions of herself, though they required more testing to figure out all of the powers that each of them had just unlocked. Even Pecker was caught off guard by this turn of events, even if he was used to them finding a way to gain some unusual powers and doing what many considered to be an impossible task, such as assaulting the Metal Head Nest and taking down Kor, on his home turf no less, so he guessed that this was in the realm of what they were capable of and suspected that they would learn more about things once they had a chance to figure out how to find their way to one of the other two platforms the siblings had seen inside the temple.
Of course neither Damas or Pecker had any idea what Seem might have meant by 'Four Sages', as the only Sages that the world knew about where the ones who focused on a single Eco type, like how Samos was the Green Sage and how Gol and Maia had been the Dark Sages, though whatever the head monk had mentioned was unknown to them, meaning that the siblings either had to wait and speak with Seem, who seemed to be warming up to them, or they needed to find a way into the trials that would bring them to the other platforms and whatever information might have been left by the Precursors in the distant past.
While they waited for the storm to be over the siblings did a few things, where Jak, for the most part, either relaxed and stared out at the city, by using the large windows that were located around their father's throne, or he sparred with his father, just to see how strong he was with his staff, though neither of them were trying to seriously hurt the other, which made them wonder if another Arena challenge might be coming up and decided that such a thing would be good for their plans, since it would allow the people of Spargus to accept them. Twilight and Starlight, on the other hand, actually used a portal to travel to the storage area that Midnight had set up a long time ago, find that it seemed to be a twisted and dark version of a forest, or at least a portion of it was since she also had an area set aside for working on mechanical items, like the vehicles she had created earlier, though there also happened to be another section that housed the Dark Satellites she had obtained so far, each one looking like they had been pulled apart as she studied them. For the most part the pair was going to join Midnight in her studies of the Dark Artifacts that Seem was trying to collect, so their world didn't suffer, even though their would be much safer if Seem allowed her to take all of the dark items they were trying to keep away from all of those who sought to do their world harm, though for now she seemed content to focus on the artifacts she had claimed so far, even though she was planning on claiming one of the Dark Statues the next time they visited the temple, to add it to her growing collection. While they did that Cozy either joined Jak in his training, since it allowed her to tap into her own powers again and regain the control she once had, or just meditating over in a corner for some time, getting in tune with what had happened to her, especially when one considered the fact that she now had wings and had to get used to them whenever she fought someone, something she didn't have to do back when she and her siblings were fighting through the dangers of Haven City, though she did know that, in time, she would be more in tune with her powers than ever before, and their foes would be in great danger when it finally happened.
When the second morning came around, however, Damas and his children discovered that the storm was over, that they had weathered it and now were able to continue on with their lives, at least until the next one came and caused a repeat of what they had just experienced, to which he informed them that he needed to make sure everyone was fine, before he even considered handing them another job, though he did comment on the fact that he originally had Kleiver make sure the city's gun was ready for him to test one of them on, causing them to nod and head down to the streets, where it took all of them no time to make their way to the section of Spargus that faced the water and quickly found the fat Wastelander standing near the gun they had seen earlier.
"Isn't it time for you ankle-biters' naps?" Kleiver asked, though it was clear that this was him attempting to make a joke, or at least something to that effect since he chuckled at his own words, even though he also showed that he was older than all four of them, as his choice of words either meant someone who was shorter than them or someone who might be a tad bit younger than the speaker, but he also knew not to push his luck with them, not after everything they had shown him since arriving in Spargus.
"I mean, we just spent an entire day resting, so napping is kind of useless right now." Daxter stated, because while he and the disguised Ottsels hadn't had a lot of stuff to do while they were trapped inside the Palace, just like how everyone was stuck inside their homes during the storm, though right now he didn't want to deal with Kleiver right now and just wanted to get this over with so they could figure out what else they needed to do before their third and final round in the Arena was called, since it had to be soon based on everything he had seen, before he focused on the fat man, "The King said that you wanted to see us, something about testing a gun?"
"Aye, that I did. That gun turret used to be the only thing that stood between us and the desert's cruel kiss." Kleiver stated, where he beckoned to the stone pillar that rested nearby, to the large gun that rested on top of it to be exact, giving them enough time to glance towards it as they determined that he must have fixed it up and made it ready for a potential test, even if the storm had stopped his plans from happening and possibly forced him to dig some sand out before their father told them about this, "I'm currently the tall poppy on that baby, as I hold the highest score. The King wanted me to test you and see if you could beat my score."
"Sure, I'm game." Jak replied, to which he stepped forward as his sisters remained where Kleiver was standing, where he focused on heading over the stone bridge that was in front of him and then climbed up the ladder that lead him up to the area that the gun turret rested in, allowing him and Daxter to see just how far the opening extended and how much ocean boarded this part of the Wasteland, far more than what they originally assumed anyway, before he climbed into the seat of the weapon and readied himself for whatever test Kleiver had set up.
What Jak discovered was that a number of metallic disks were loosed out of the water and moved into the sky, meaning he would earn some points off if he missed them, to which he fired at the three colored versions of the disks that happened to be his targets, most of them being orange colored, a good bit being blue, and a few were green, with the more common color being the lower point targets and the rare ones having more points, though after a few minutes he had thrashed and beaten Kleiver's score, before he was counted out, and once that was done he climbed out and headed down to where his sisters were waiting for him.
"You walloped my score... I'm not even surprised at this point." Kleiver said, his tone showing that he had been hoping that this test would have tripped them up or something, to show that a newcomer wasn't capable of overcoming a veteran of the Wasteland, but at the same time he was showing them that he understood that his earlier thoughts about them were wrong and that he had to come to terms with the fact that they were a benefit to Spargus, before he pulled out a Light Eco Crystal and handed it to Jak, "Law of the land says that the top gunner of our city holds a special trophy, in honor of their skill, so for the time being this crystal is yours... but, if I'm being honest, I'm not sure that I'll be able to beat your score, not after what I just witnessed. Also, you might want to head over to the Arena... last I heard you'll be having a skilled foe to fight in the Arena as your final challenge."
Jak and his sisters raised their eyebrows for a moment before making their way back to the Arena, as it made sense that their father wouldn't tell them about this since it was supposed to be a surprise, and sure enough they found that the rest of the Arena had been filled with everyone from Spargus, meaning this was supposed to energize everyone before more people were sent out to do whatever missions they were given, to which they came to a stop on the main platform as they found both Damas and Pecker waiting on the throne. This time around Jak and his sisters found that there were no new weapon mods to be added to their arsenal, meaning that if they had been stripped of their weapons this must have been when they would have gained the Vulcan Barrel, though none of them were disappointed by such a thing, especially given their new powers from the temple, though once their father declared that the next round of games had started, and that they would become Wastelanders if they succeeded, the siblings descended onto the new platforms that had been set up for this event. What they discovered was that this time around the platform they would be fighting on was the exterior of a square and the two lines that connected the edges, which meant it was the inverse of what happened during their second Arena challenge, where Jak faced the north, Cozy took watch over the south, Twilight turned her gaze on the east, and the west was left to Starlight, though it wasn't long before the Marauders jumped down onto the platform and rushed over to where the siblings were standing, each wave coming from multiple directions. Jak focused on blasting his targets for a few moments, though when a lucky hit struck him he found that his new Light Eco power washed over his shoulder, the one that Daxter didn't sit on, and healed his wound in a matter of seconds, which was rather interesting as he determined that his sisters would likely call it 'Light Regeneration', though since it seemed to distract the Marauders that had been rushing at him he blasted them backwards and opened the way for him to focus on any other enemies as his sisters tore down all of the enemies that were coming at him.
As he expected Cozy shifted into what now appeared to be a hybrid form, as it resembled her Dark Form despite the fact that one side of her was definitely channeling Dark Eco while the other side focused on Light Eco, the latter on her left side and the former covering her right side, and her enemies fell with ease, even though she seemed to be more in control this time around, meaning whatever the Precursor statue had done to her had given her the bit of power she needed to stay in control of her Dark Form. Starlight, on the other hand, used her new staff to parry incoming attacks from the Marauders who challenged her, spinning it around like she had a lot more experience with such a thing, even though Jak and both of their sisters knew that this was the first time such a weapon had touched her hands, despite the fact that she was able to channel her Eco powers as she blasted some of her opponents backwards, usually focusing on both Red and Yellow Eco to do such a thing, leaving the other four types for whenever she needed to use them. Twilight moved around her side with a new grace that she didn't have before, likely due to the arrival of her new wings, though for right now it looked like one of her other sides was aiding her and that it happened to be Midnight, not that Jak was surprised by that, though he could see that his father and Pecker were still surprised by such a thing and knew that their allies in Haven would likely think the same thing when they witnessed this, plus the fact that she had four more versions of herself that could be called out into battle, or for whatever reason she called them to her side. Jak was sure that there might be more to Twilight's new power than what they had seen so far, besides each one having access to a different type of Eco and their various abilities, but at the moment he wasn't about to question her decisions as she and Midnight knocked their enemies off the platform and moved onto some of the other foes that they were fighting, but as that happened Jak had to wonder what sort of foe their father had prepared for all of them, or maybe for one of them since four on one would make it impossible for an enemy to win, though as he considered that Jak jumped over to one of the rising platforms and was surprised to find that Sig, of all people, happened to be in the Arena.
Normally one would assume that they were supposed to kill each other, even though Sig understood that challenging the four of them was a death sentence, even one of the four was next to impossible for someone like him, though Jak did have an idea on how they could break that rule as he beckoned for Sig to come at him as he switched his Morph Gun for Mar's sword and then lashed out at the skilled Wastelander, who noticed what he was up to and used the edge of his weapon's handle to parry the attack, even though it did seem like he understood Jak's strength and suspected that this might be a fight he might not win. Jak suspected that if he switched to just hand to hand combat he would prove to be the victor in a matter of moments, since Sig seemed to be more of a brawler and focused on his Peacemaker, as that was what he called his weapon even though the name of the weapon mod it was based on was split in half, so sticking to their main weapons, Jak's sword and Sig's staff, meant that neither of them had the upper hand and it was more fair in the eyes of Damas, and it also served as a source of entertainment for the people of Spargus. Damas found that his daughters made sure to take out all of the remaining Marauders, of which he noticed that there weren't too many more, before switching his gaze over to Jak and Sig, who clashed with each other and carefully moved around the area that they happened to be be in, where he could see what his son was up to, that he wanted an even battle that didn't end with either one using bullets to take each other out, something that caused him to mentally nod his head as he watched them clash. As he expected, however, Jak gained the upper hand in no time, something that Sig was either aware of and decided not to act on or he wasn't aware of such a thing, where he had to believe that the former had to be the correct one, though he seemed to be the only one that noticed such a thing, especially since everyone else cheered as Sig and Jak clashed with each other, but while they fought each other he noticed that nothing happened to the Precursor alloy blade his son was using, meaning Sig's chances were decreasing as time went on.
Sure enough it wasn't long before Jak knocked Sig backwards and pinned him to the floor of the platform, though instead of finishing him off, like he was another Marauder, he paused for a moment and glanced up at where Damas was resting right now, where Damas considered what was going on and knew that, as the King, he did have the final say on matters of life or death and he could see that everyone happened to be waiting for him to come to a decision, though it didn't wasn't long before he stood up and held his right thumb up. Sure enough everyone seemed overjoyed that Sig would survive and see another day, even though he would have words with him before he was allowed to leave Spargus, though as Jak took a moment to help his friend up, where Sig seemed surprised by this turn of events and was going with the flow, Damas had Pecker fly down and informed them that he wanted to see the five of them in his throne room before any of them left the city, something that was followed by the group nodding their heads as Pecker returned to his side. As such Damas quickly departed from the Arena and headed back over to the lift that would allow him to return to the Palace, to prepare for the swift arrival of both his children and Sig, especially since he would need to punish them with a mission to ensure that all of Spargus' people understood that being spared in the Arena meant he would speak to whoever he spared and, as such, he would be punishing them according to what was happening in the Wasteland. Not a few moments later, after he returned to his throne and turned so he could be standing in front of it once those he needed to talk to arrived in this room, the lift moved back down to the bottom of the passage and his children, accompanied by Sig of course, used it to reach where he was waiting, meaning they must have come as soon as he was gone and had been only a few seconds behind him, though he and Pecker said nothing as the group came to a stop in front of his throne, everyone looking like they were waiting to hear what he had to tell them.
"While I approve of your actions, Jak, it does come with some consequences," Damas stated, as he wanted to get this over with so he could return his attention to something else, such as a number of dangers that he might send his children after in the near future, though he could see that Jak and his sisters understood that this was more of a necessary event and if he could get away without punishing them he would, to which he sighed for a moment, "such as the fact that, despite all the skill that you and your sisters showed in the Arena, none of you completed the challenge and that means you have failed to earn the third fragment of your Battle Amulet."
"I understand." Jak replied, as he and his sisters really had no idea what sort of rules existed in Spargus, save for the ones that their father had mentioned so far, and he suspected that his actions in the Arena could have caused something like this to happen, though he was curious as to what their father would do and what sort of punishment he would dish out to them, something that Sig seemed to be waiting for.
"Sig, it would seem that your time in Haven City has made you soft, as I expected more from you," Damas added, as part of the reason he had chosen to allow Sig into the third Arena challenge was because he was one of the greatest warriors that Spargus had produced since it was founded, even though he had suspected that Jak and his sisters would have beat him in battle, though he honestly expected more from the warrior, who simply nodded his head and showed that he did agree with his statement, "however, your time as my spy in Haven City has earned you a chance at redemption. We have received word that there is a nest of Metal-pedes not too far from here, and that they have been harassing our artifact carriers for some time, though we have only now discovered the location of this nest. I want you to drive into the heart of the nest and take out all the creatures you find inside, and my children will accompany you... I'd say good luck, but then luck won't help you, not when you have everything you need."
Jak noted that Sig seemed surprised, that none of them reacted to him being revealed as Damas' spy, even though he did have a feeling they had suspected such a thing at one point in time, though that was when they departed from the throne room and headed for the garage, something that caused Sig to climb into one of the vehicles that was more like a tank, a vehicle called the Gila Stomper and seemed to have a machine gun on top of it, though it had more than enough room for all of them, with Jak and Sig sitting at the front while Twilight, Starlight, and Cozy remained in the area that was just below the main weapon as they departed from Spargus.
"You know, I should have known you four were Damas' kids... I mean, you guys were talking about time travel with Samos during the celebration party," Sig commented, meaning it had taken him a while to piece that puzzle together, especially since it looked like it had been his job to track down and extract their younger selves before the Metal Heads broke into Haven City, a mission that he was now unable to complete since Jak and his sisters had forged a closed loop by sending all of their younger selves back into the past, though as he said that he drove up a hill as he tracked down the location that they had been given, seemingly heading for the ruined city, "still, I'll leave all of the technical stuff to you and Keira, as I'm sure that all of the terms and definitions would go right over my head."
"You could always ask us to explain things to you," Twilight replied, though as she said that she glanced at her siblings and all of them seemed to be thinking the same thing right now, Sig had mentioned Keira and it was making them take a few moments to wonder if something had happened to Haven City while they were gone, something that was followed by all of them focusing on their mission as they faced the area that was in front of them, where it was easy to see that they were heading for the ruined city, "So Sig, has anything happened to the city since we left?"
"War broke out, that's what happened. The KG Robots launched an assault on our forces, while some possessed Metal Heads pushed us out of another section and claimed it as their own," Sig replied, his statement revealing that the event all of them had been preparing for, in addition to the expedition that brought them out here in the first place, had occurred while they were out in the Wasteland, that whoever set the war in motion had waited for Jak and his sisters to be stuck in this place, so they wouldn't interfere with the war that was currently raging in Haven City, "and, to top it all off, someone launched a missile at the support structure for the Palace, shattering it and bringing it to the ground... Haven is a war zone right now, and the Baron is doing everything in his power to keep everyone else safe."
Jak and his sisters remained silent as they heard that, as they had been expecting a war to break out at some point, since it sure seemed like the new KG Robots would have started it at some point, but this news wasn't what they wanted to hear right now, not when there wasn't an easy way for them to get back to Haven City and sort the war out, meaning they had to figure out a way to get back to the city and take some time off from hanging out in the Wasteland, though he felt that a meeting with their father might be appropriate at this point in time. As he thought about that, however, Sig came to a stop on the right side of the ruined city, revealing a number of Metal Head eggs and caused the disguised Neo Metal Heads to shake their heads again, as something was messing with their power to connect with those who lived in the Wasteland, as in the Metal Heads, and caused them to step down as Sig let Jak take control of the vehicle, while he charged up a blast of his Peace Maker mod for a few seconds, before blasting the way open. With that done Jak headed down the tunnel that was on the other side of the area that the eggs had been covering, eggs Sig had destroyed before returning to his seat in the vehicle, though while he headed down the tunnel they discovered a mass of small orange colored creatures that did look like they wanted to latch onto the vehicle and drain it dry, to which Twilight weaved her power around their ride and created a shock barrier of sorts, preventing any of the creatures from getting close to them, especially the ones that tried to come up from underground. Not a few moments later they reached what appeared to be the main chamber, which was a massive cavern that rested below the Wasteland and had a few Metal-pedes for them to worry about, or at least those Metal Heads seemed to be absent and had left their eggs behind, to which Starlight stepped up for a moment as she just raised her right hand and ripped one of them out of where it was resting, much to Sig's amazement, before she hurled it right into another one, blowing both targets up in the process, though while they focused on the main chamber Cozy took a moment to spread her wings and flew down the other passage, where Jak heard the sounds of things being ruined and suspected that his sister was taking care of business.
Once they regrouped, and confirmed that all ten eggs had been taken care of with no Metal-pedes showing up, they found a green gas was starting to fill the cavern, which Twilight easily protected them from with her magic, even if Jak knew that she and Midnight were taking samples for later, before they headed through the passage that brought them down to this cavern in the first place, allowing them to return to the surface and use the Communicator to inform Damas that the nest had been cleared, while letting him know that the Metal-pedes didn't show up, so he'd have to keep an eye out for them in the future, but with that done they traveled back to Spargus as the siblings wondered what in the world they were going to do about the war in Haven City, even though Jak knew they would figure something out in due time.