//------------------------------//
// Kras: Keira's Gamble 
// Story: Jak and Daxter: Heirs of Mar 
// by Blackdrag-rose 
//------------------------------//

While Jak, Twilight, Starlight, Cozy, and the others spent the rest of the day relaxing, after fighting hard to win the Red Eco Cup and trophy that accompanied it, Rayn informed them of another vehicle they had earned along the way, a Class 2 vehicle that looked like a cross between the Road Blade and the Howler 99, as it seemed to be more tank-like than what Jak was using right now, only it was colored a deep blue, before revealing that it was known as the 'Street Grinder', which meant that it had to be a good vehicle. Not only did they win the Street Grinder, they also earned another tank vehicle called the 'Hammer Head', one that definitely seemed more like a tank than the one Sig was currently using and might be an upgrade for him to use in the future, especially since Razer should be joining UR-86 and the rest of Mizo's team soon, or at least that was what Jak and his sisters assumed after he approached them earlier, to intimidate them into backing down or surrendering to his criminal boss, even if his plans had failed. Keira, of course, did what she did best and made sure that both vehicles were as sound as they could be, that Krew's people were giving them working vehicles that didn't need to be fixed on sort notice, all while Daxter and the disguised Neo Metal Heads watched whatever was on the television as they sought out clues, be they about Blitz or any additional racers that might end up joining Mizo's team, since he had to be looking for new recruits to take all of them down. Rayn did stare at them for a few moments after her announcement, finding that they worked like a well maintained machine that could keep an entire city safe, which confirmed the stories she had heard of this group tearing all of their enemies down to ensure their world was kept safe and sound, before she departed to get some answers as to what was coming up next, since this was the first time her father's team had gotten this far and she wanted to be ready for what the future held in store for them.

While that happened Jak noticed that Midnight was still hanging outside Twilight's body, in fact she was sitting on the couch and seemed to be enjoying the show Daxter had put it on, an adventure series of sorts that seemed to be playing while the KGC was going on, why he had no idea since most people would be watching the sport, while Twilight was at one of the tables, reading a book while trying to figure something out, likely from the Precursors since he was sure that one of his sisters had a Communicator that let them speak to Eon's group.

"So, um, how long as you two going to keep this up?" Keira asked, as she had noticed what Jak had noticed, in fact she was sure that her father, along with Starlight and Cozy, had noticed it once the Red Eco Cup was over, though this was more in the sense of how long were Twilight and Midnight going to remain separated, since it had to be putting a strain on her mana reserves, or would do so at some point in the future since they had no idea how much magical power Twilight and her sisters had in their bodies.

"Honestly, no idea." Midnight replied, as this was probably the first time, since the day she manifested due to Baron Praxis' actions, that she had spent more than a few hours in this world and she was loving it right now, so she wasn't too worried about doing anything that would weaken Twilight and cause her to return to her realm, as right now both of them were fine and she intended on making it stay that way, "Anyway, I'm having fun right now and I'll be sticking around for as long as I can... don't worry, if Twilight's in danger of collapsing from me being out here I'll make sure to return to my place for a time and let her rest."

The reason Keira asked the question was because of what Eon, Gol, and Maia had said back when they explained what was going on with their world and answered all of the questions that they had for the Precursors, that Twilight and her sisters were unknowns and that not even the powerful Ottsels knew what might happen to the sisters in the future, the only thing they knew was that they would evolve at some point in time, and by having Midnight out like this Keira was sure that it had to put a bit of a strain on her reserves, possibly cutting down her time until the transformation occurred and Twilight was split into six Ottsels. Jak understood why Keira had asked the question, since no one had any idea how much time all three of his sisters had before they were forced to undergo the transformation process, especially since Eon informed them that it didn't matter if the Sage used their power or not, as it grew over time and didn't depend on what the Sage did, but in the case of Twilight, Starlight, and Cozy none of them had any idea what might happen next, so having Midnight out like this would have to put a bit of a strain on Twilight's reserves and might speed up her transformation timeline. Twilight didn't seem to mind having her Dark Eco self out all the time, rather it seemed like she was testing herself and seeing what sort of limits she might have in terms of magical energy, as knowing one's limits was usually a good thing, so Jak guessed that he and the others were going to have to accept this and not question it too much, but he swore to himself that if he saw a change in her, like her fur starting to change color, he'd find a way to stop her before it was too late. Of course that was if the transformation was a slow one, once again due to the fact that they had no way of knowing if Twilight and her sisters would follow the usual Precursor pattern or not, but this was just his way of keeping track of things while making sure his sisters were perfectly fine, before he sighed and focused on something else.

The only thing he had to think about was the fact that they would be tackling the Green Eco Cup tomorrow, the start of it anyway since they just ended the Red Eco Cup, as he was eager to see what Mizo threw at them next, since he had to be fuming over the defeat of UR-86 and the rest of his team right now, while they worked towards claiming the trophies for the Green, Blue, and Yellow Eco Cups, to topple Mizo and hopefully put Rayn in charge of the criminal underworld, but for now he decided to rest since they could be ready for whatever happened next.





When morning arrived Rayn went to speak with the rest of Kras' officials and returned when she had news for them, that all of the events in the Green Eco Cup would be different from the ones that they had tackled in the Red Eco Cup, which was more in the sense that the events were the same, but they weren't linked to the same tracks they had been on during the previous Cup, so like how in the previous Cup Kras City might have a Death Race it might have something else, like a Circuit Race, in the new Cup. Jak was fine with this information, since it made sense when he thought about it, as the rest of the officials wanted to keep everyone on their toes and not force them to tackle the same events in the same locations, especially since it might be interesting to tackle a specific event on another track, and he could see that Sig was interested in seeing what sort of alterations the officials had for them this year, given that it had been some time since he had been involved in the KGC. Rayn went on to explain that the first Green Eco Cup event this year was a Circuit Race, as the start of all Cups involved a Circuit Race, and that they would be heading to Sanctuary to race along the Beachfront Drive track, one that would have them race through part of Canyon Run and part of the Spargus track, though she knew that the officials were still figuring out what to do for the Blue and Yellow Eco Cups, which locations they wanted to use anyway. With that information in hand Jak and his sisters made sure that their vehicles were ready, while Sig and the others had Keira check theirs out for a few moments, so they didn't burn out or something while they were racing through Sanctuary, but they all found that everything was in order and that they were ready to go, allowing all of them to rest a little while longer before they had to climb into the transport.

The only thing Jak found was that he had to switch out his Road Blade for the Street Grinder, even though he had gotten used to the first vehicle he had been using since this sport had started, and when everyone gathered at the starting line he found that Kleiver was nowhere to be seen, maybe getting his vehicle ready for when Mizo wanted him to join the racers on his team, before he focused on the track in front of him as he and his siblings climbed into their vehicles so they could get this event over with. As it turned out the Beachfront Drive track was less near the beach and more about cutting and weaving through some of the areas that Twilight had altered to make these tracks work, though sure enough Mizo's team held no candle to the power and tactics of Jak's team, where he and his sisters continued to show off their rivalry to all of the watchers as Sig and the others kept everyone else busy for the foreseeable future, much to the annoyance of Shiv and his teammates, since UR-86 didn't seem to care all that much. The interesting thing was that their opponents seemed to have a better understanding of their abilities this time, maybe because they were forced to do some homework on what all of them were capable of, and when they were nearby Shiv and his comrades tried to take them down, though that was a failure as Jak and his sisters overcame the tactics that were used against them, knocking their opponents into dead last before focusing on putting on a show for everyone else. Other than that there wasn't much else for them to think about, as a Circuit Race was easy and with the other team stuck in the back of the pack, despite their attempts to get close to the first place position, and sure enough Jak found himself in first place as his sisters came after him, earning them their first gold medal for the Green Eco Cup, much to the joy of everyone else since it put them one step closer to completing their mission in Kras.

With that done they returned to the garage for a time, as Rayn informed them that Blitz was planning on making another announcement of some kind, or maybe he just wanted to talk to the public about something, and since they were more interested in what Pecker might have to say the group gathered around their living area once more while waiting to hear what sort of information the bird had for them, and sure enough the pair appeared on the screen as Blitz did his thing, all while Pecker remained calm and collected while they talked.

"So, the rules have been changed this year," Jak commented, as based on Blitz's information it sounded like the event that had been the first Qualifying Event for the Green Eco Cup had either been changed or the rules had been modified for the racers that were present this year, even though Rayn claimed that all of the races involved with the Grand Prix, which did include the events one needed to clear to qualify for the right to participate in the main event, were Circuit Races and that this was the first time it had been changed to include an Artifact Race.

"Yeah, but we're ready for whatever they throw at us!" Daxter stated, as he had faith in Jak's abilities to clear the event that had been switched out with the Circuit Race that was usually involved with this part of the sport, not to mention that he knew Twilight and her sisters would be able to crush everyone else as well, so he wasn't too worried about them losing to Shiv's team, before he stared at the screen as Pecker spoke, since that was the reason they had bothered to come back to the garage in the first place, "Even Pecker agrees that we're going to get out of whatever is thrown at us... despite the fact that Blitz is of the opinion that we'll crash and burn at some point in time. You know, given his reactions to Pecker's work into the underground bet, and his apparent rage towards us besting Mizo's team, it makes me wonder if Blitz is, in fact, the man we're looking for."

"Eon's taught you well, Daxter... never thought I'd be saying that." Samos said, because as Daxter gave them his opinion on the man who thought they were terrible racers and would fold at some point in the near future, making everyone think for a brief period of time, he realized that there was a very real possibility that Daxter might be right about Blitz being Mizo, as it would give him a greater position of power and hide out without most realizing they had been fooled, but he hated the fact that he was even agreeing with Daxter, which he was going to have to get used to since the Ottsel was really growing thanks to his training, even if him being a Sage was hard to swallow.

Jak and his sisters nodded their heads as they thought about it, as it would make sense for Mizo to hide out in the one spot that no one would look for him in, as the announcer of a show that oversaw the sport he was trying to use to take over all of Kras, if he won Krew's bet to be exact, or maybe another position which no one suspect, like a mechanic like Keira, but they knew that Mizo loved the position of power and an announcer seemed to be the best fit for him, though for now they focused on the event Blitz had talked about. Rayn discovered that the Artifact Race was going to be taking place in a place called Atoll Arena, one of the new places created near Haven City and approved by Jak when he learned about the tracks that Kras wanted to build in the city, though given everything they had seen so far, though it was going to be identical to the last few they had done, race to the artifacts and collect whatever they could get their hands on, where Rayn expected all of them to beat up Mizo's team once more. Not a few moments later Jak, his sisters, and the rest of their team used the transport to head out to the arena in question and found that most of Mizo's team was present, save for UR-86 for some reason, meaning the robot really didn't care about the events that revolved around collecting artifacts and accumilating points to overcome all of their opponents, though since Shiv's group feared them it meant that Jak didn't have to worry about anything this time around. Sure enough the opposing team barely did anything to slow everyone done, meaning all three of them tried and failed to do anything to stop the siblings as Ashelin, Torn, and Sig smashed them, while Midnight did her part by using her weapon to disable their vehicles for a short period of time, leaving the work of collecting the rest of the artifacts to Jak and his sisters, who put forth their sibling rivalry and caused the announcers to cheer for them, just like all of the events they had cleared so far.

By the end of the event, which went on for five minutes, Jak had twenty points, Twilight claimed eighteen, Starlight and Cozy recovered a total of sixteen, and Midnight, despite her attempts to slow down the opposing team, scored fifteen on her own, while Sig's group each scored five and made sure that Shiv's group scored none at all, giving them another gold medal to add to the collection, before they headed for the Kras City track to tackle a Turbo Dash event, something they knew that they would win in due time, even if it came with a surprise as the Street Grinder, as Jak was still using the Road Blade, drove up beside Jak. What they discovered was that Keira, having gotten tired of sitting on the sidelines and simply watching Jak and his sisters, including everyone they worked with over their time in Haven and Spargus, had decided to do something different this time around and wanted to join them in racing against Mizo's team, more in the sense of saving those she cared about while proving that she was capable on the track, though putting down a villain who would only be problems in the future was something only they knew about, given that Rayn had no idea about their cure. While Jak was a little worried about her, given that she was both his girlfriend and the mechanic of their team, where he placed the former at the front of his mental list since it would only put a target on Keira's back if Mizo knew what she was to him, the rest of him knew that he had nothing to worry about, as before they arrived in Haven City, due to the Rift Rider's destruction to be exact, she had won several races on her own and made a bit of a name for herself before she became known to most of the city as 'the Mechanic'. Given that information Jak knew that he really didn't have to worry about her, because Keira was a formidable racer in her own right and she had studied what the other racers would do in any situation that came up on them, especially after having watched what Shiv and the others were up to while racing against him and his sisters, to which he nodded and got ready for the race, as Mizo's team had no idea who had joined them and it meant they would be in for quite the surprise.

While the event started Jak also knew that Samos had likely tried to talk some sense into Keira, to convince her that she didn't need to do this since they had Twilight and her sisters on the team, but he understood her reasoning and was glad to have her racing with them, even though it would likely come as a surprise to Rayn, something they would deal with as soon as all of today's events were complete, to which he turned his attention back to the race and what everyone else was doing right now. Keira showed that she had the skills to keep up with Jak and his sisters, instead of staying back with Sig's group to slow Mizo's team down, though she did make sure to fire at those who got close to them, which wasn't common thanks to the others and Midnight tearing apart their wheels, or Midnight releasing her specialized attack to weaken the team that was trying to take them down, causing many to cheer as Mizo's team was knocked down a peg once more, just like what had happened during all of the previous events. While she might not be a Prism Sage like Jak or his sisters, or as skilled as her father was since she was still learning about her powers, Keira was able to use one of her lessons to sense when someone was attacking her vehicle and react accordingly, usually resulting in her destroying the attack, be it some of the wheel seeking missiles or the grenades, before turning her attention back to the event, something that caused Jak to mentally nod his head, as she was fitting in quite well and it seemed that her gamble had paid off. When they reached the end of the event Jak still had the most points, over thirty to be exact, while his sisters were between twenty-five to thirty, and Keira, despite this being her first time on a Kras track, ended up at twenty-four points, meaning their efforts had earned them another gold medal and their ratings were now higher than what Mizo's team happened to have at this point in time.

Rayn, of course, looked like she wanted to say something, anything about this latest development, especially since their mechanic was now racing and tearing into Mizo's team with a level of skill that was similar to Jak and his sisters, but she decided not to say anything as she informed them that their next destination for the day was a Circuit Race that was going to take place on the Frozen Speedway, showing everyone that she was done with new racers showing up, she was just accepting it and moving on without reacting, to which they focused on the task at hand.

This time around the Circuit Race was five laps long, which wasn't that much longer than some of the other tracks since the Frozen Speedway was shorter than some of the other tracks they had visited so far, and even with a few more laps it became clear that Mizo's team didn't have the skills to pass them, as it looked like UR-86 was picking and choosing when to face them on the track, so Jak and his sisters remained at the head of the group with Keira following right behind them as Sig's group made sure none of their enemies even got close to them. Of course they were surprised by the fact that all of the watchers were overjoyed by what they were watching and not annoyed by Jak and his sisters dominating the track, but it was likely due to the fact that Mizo's team had destroyed anyone who dared to race them and the people were pleased to have a new racer or team to pin their hopes on, so much so that they cared more about Jak's team and less about the team they were facing off against. Keira proved that her modifications to her vehicle, so she could keep up with Jak while also navigating the frozen reaches of the Icelands, allowed her to show off all of her skills to the viewers, especially since a fair number of Haven's people knew she was a former race champion, before she became a mechanic and fielded her own team for a time, or rather those Krew sent her in an attempt to find some people for this sport, and by the end of it all she was right behind Jak in second place, much to the surprise of his sisters. It was a reminder that Keira was a talented racer and that she could hold her own on the track, especially since she was able to bypass Twilight, Starlight, and Cozy, not to mention Midnight for that matter, but all it did was cause the viewers to cheer for them as they earned yet another gold medal that was added to their collection.

After that it was back to the Dethdrome for a Death Race, again without Mizo's team since they seemed to think that their boss' money could get them around all of the rules and regulations, though that didn't stop Jak, his sisters, or Keira from getting over the hundred and sixty points needed to win the gold for the event, allowing them to return to their garage for a time to rest and plan their next move to conquer the rest of the KGC, and beat whoever Mizo sent at them, before taking the remaining trophies and dealing with the criminal underground before doing anything else.