With everyone fully committed to taking Skyheed down, and saving the world from what was going on, Jak and his sisters headed outside, finding that they were back at the front of the Barracks, which meant they might have to rely on the Dark Sage's knowledge if another Coordinate Sphere was located in an Aeropan facility, but as everyone headed for the hanger they received a call from Klout, who revealed that the Phantom Blade was under attack. Phoenix, of course, called for the siblings to join him as they headed back to the hanger and climbed into their ships, Jak taking off in the Hellcat with Keira, his sisters, their Ottsels, and the Dark Sage resting in the back, leading to Daxter and Tess to ready the turret so they could see what in the world was going on this time around. As they took to the skies once more Jak switched open the line so they could hear whatever was being said between Phoenix and Klout, where they discovered that the Phantom Blade's engines had been shot out and that it must have been done by an automated defense system, though as Jak reached the sky they found that the three walled sections they had ignored earlier were raising sections that had large turrets on them, three per section it looked like. As such Jak, Daxter, and Tess opened fire on the turrets as Starlight focused on using her magic to create barriers so they didn't take too much damage, leaving Cozy and Twilight to sit this out as they watched, since they knew that their siblings and friends didn't need assistance in taking their enemies down, but if things got hairy Cozy would fly outside and Twilight would force herself to act.
When the third and final turret section was smashed to pieces, which was good for them since Phoenix didn't have to worry about his ship or crew being hurt, Keira discovered something that worried her a little, a missile was being launched and it was going to be targeting the Phantom Blade, to which Jak beckoned with his head and both Daxter and Tess got ready for what he had in mind. As such he tracked down where the missile was going to be launched from and deployed the Ottsels, as they jumped out of the Hellcat and glided down to where their target was resting, so when the missile few out of the silo they were on the back of it, using their smaller bodies to invade the weapon and tear into all of the pieces of machinery that were in front of them. Daxter found that training with Tess before this point in time, in both Eco and seeing her own interests, was beneficial to what they were doing as they tore into the missile and collected more bits from it, but that wasn't their main focus as they sought out the controls and devices that kept it in the air, something that actually lead to Daxter seizing control of the missile and directing it towards one of the turret stands. Such a thing caused it to bring out a number of Blue Eco mines to destroy attackers, another defense system, something that caused Jak to get near them as Twilight stepped out and raised a hand, draining the Blue Eco out of the devices so they could fall into the water, allowing the pair to drive the missile right into the dead center of their target, where they dropped off the missile and Cozy flew out to catch them.
With that done they found that the other two turret stations replaced their damaged turrets and opened fire on them once more, causing Jak to focus on them once more as Daxter and Tess readied themselves, as they had a feeling they would be riding on another missile in no time, and sure enough they found another silo readying itself, to which the pair dropped out of the Hellcat and repeated the process. Sure enough Jak found that they were able to deal a vast amount of damage to the missile, just like they had done to the first one that had been fired at the Phantom Blade, allowing them to seize it and redirect it towards one of the remaining silos, where Twilight groaned as she removed the Blue Eco mines once more, draining them like before, and it wasn't long before it blew apart the second target with Cozy returning their friends to the ship once their mission was done. Not a few moments later the remaining turret station readied another set of turrets for them to take down, something Jak focused on as his friends readied themselves for another missile ride, since the pattern seemed to be holding quite well, and not a few moments later he dropped the Ottsels into the silo so they could ride the missile for some time, where they tore the missile apart and redirected it back to the third target without wasting next to no time, blowing it apart as Cozy returned them to the Hellcat. Twilight huffed for a moment as Cozy returned with Daxter and Tess, as even draining Blue Eco from those mines seemed to take a lot out of her, though from what she could tell her body hadn't suffered any additional changes yet, but she knew they were coming as she climbed back into the ship and Jak headed back to the Phantom Blade, as there were no more targets for them to worry about.
After docking with Phoenix's ship, and everyone confirmed that nothing else was coming at them, Jak and his sisters, plus the rest of their group, waited for a time so the engines could be checked and maintenance could be done, if such a thing was needed, though only a few minutes later Klout approached them and informed them that the ship was ready to do, as the damage was minimal, like when Jak shot them down, to which Jak nodded and set a course for Far Drop.
"So, um, what did Skyheed do to her?" Phoenix asked, speaking to Keira as they flew towards the next destination that just so happened to have one of the Coordinate Spheres they needed, though he was asking because he had seen Twilight's odd changes and seemed to think that she had been experimented on by the Duke he was trying to overthrow, while not considering anything about Daxter and Tess.
"Skyheed didn't do anything. Twilight is... unique," Keira admitted, where she thought about everything that had happened to Twilight since she started transforming into an Ottsel, the next stage of a Sage's evolution, and could understand why someone like Phoenix, who had been disturbed by what had happened in the Barracks, would be worried or concerned by what had happened to someone else, especially one of the Prism Sages, "Her power is incredible, to the point where her body cannot handle it all... we're not sure what's causing it, but she seems to be the only one affected by it."
Phoenix said nothing to that as he watched Twilight weakly walk over to where her siblings were located, figuring that all of the Dark Eco she had been near in the Barracks was still bothering her, meaning that if they saved the world she might be saved as well, though Keira hated lying to him, since he was their ally and had spilled his heart to everyone earlier, but the information about a Sage's evolution was best kept a secret, so which she focused on her work and hoped that they could do something to help Twilight once this quest was over.
It took some time for them to return to Far Drop, which they were fine with since it meant they were able to get some rest before having to worry about whatever might be waiting for them in their destination, and upon their arrival near the city in question Keira elected to remain in the Phantom Blade, to track down the third and final Coordinate Sphere, but based on the signal she had no idea where Jak and his sisters might find the second one. As such Jak, his sisters, and their Ottsels climbed into the Hellcat and disembarked from the flagship, heading for Far Drop without wasting any time, finding that it was the same as when they left it earlier, in terms of appearance, and it didn't look like Barter's city had any Dark Mutants that needed to be taken care of, meaning it might be an easy mission this time around. While they flew towards the city, however, Twilight felt something that made her pause, there was an energy signature that felt like a Sage's, more like one of the physical colors, maybe Blue or Red, and it seemed to be coming from Barter's place, or at least in that general area based on what she was feeling right now. It was easy for her to blame her awakening Ottsel nature and the powers that it brought with it, because everything was different for her now, as she could see the world far more than what a Prism Sage could on their own and all of the Dark Eco made things difficult for her, though since none of them had any idea where to find the Coordinate Sphere it seemed like the best course of action.
"Guys, this might be a shot in the dark, but we should check out Barter's bar," Twilight said, speaking as Jak landed in the docking bay of Far Drop, finding that there were a larger number of ships in this part of the city, which told them that more people must be scattered around the city, though her siblings glanced at her for a moment and considered that it was the best move they could make, since Barter might have information for them.
As such Jak climbed out of the Hellcat and his sisters followed after him, where Daxter rested on his shoulder as Tess took her position on Starlight's, and as they walked away Starlight made sure to protect the ship once more before they made their way over to Barter's place again, where all of them found that there were a lot more people in Far Drop, either due to all of the Dark Mutants being taken care of or because more wanted to rest before taking off again, though no one even attempted to stop them as they reached the bar.
"So glad you back, Jak. Strange things afoot." Barter said, welcoming Jak and his sisters back to the bar, no doubt thinking another brawl was going to break out while they were visiting Far Drop, before he beckoned to a female pirate who wore a purple coat that was open and showed off her white shirt, where the bottom seemed to be tied up to show off her midriff, with red hair and a purple pirate hat, a captain's in the eyes of the siblings, who happened to be drinking and was holding onto a container with the Coordinate Sphere inside it, "Ah, you like? That a Precursor rune sphere. She good fighter, but me think you can 'persuade' her to give..."
"You seem to have something we need," Twilight said, as instead of joining her siblings at the bar, and speaking to Barter, she followed her instincts and walked over to the table that the pirate happened to be sitting at right now, who looked up as she came to a stop across from her, where she beckoned to the glass container for a moment, showing the lady what she was talking about, "that Coordinate Sphere... how much for it?"
"Oh, not much for small talk, are you?" the pirate replied in kind, asking a question to Twilight's question, though she had a cocky tone to her voice as she leaned forward and crossed her arms for a moment, like she was trying to be intimidating or something, and if it had been anyone else but her or her siblings Twilight was sure that whoever the pirate was speaking to would have backed off, before she chuckled a little, "However, money doesn't interest me right now... now if we were to bet on a fight..."
"Let me guess, the sphere against someone joining your crew?" Twilight inquired, because that seemed like something a pirate would ask for, offer someone something they needed or wanted and then beat them so they had no choice but to join the crew of the one they bet against, which caused the pirate to smile as she nodded her head a little, to which she let out a sigh, "Fine, if you win I'll join your crew, and if I win you hand over the Coordinate Sphere... and maybe join up with our crew, as I have a feeling that you don't like Skyheed."
"Your lucky it's only me in my crew right now, otherwise I might take offense... but I like your bargain." the pirate replied, to which she picked herself up and tossed the container over to Barter, who caught it and locked the bar down behind him as the other patrons started to move away, especially since she pulled out a sword and a pistol, something that interested Twilight since it just so happened to be the same weapons she had, "Tell me, who do I have the honor of fighting? Just so I know the name of who will be joining my crew."
"I am Twilight Sparkle, daughter of King Damas, and I'm one of the Four Sages... Prism, to be exact." Twilight said, though as she said that she jumped back and made sure there was enough room for the two of them, while she also pulled both of her weapons out, something that caused her foe to raise an eyebrow as she noticed that they had matching sets, even if the designs were somewhat different, "How about you?"
"Captain Naomi, the one people beg for mercy from when I rob their ships," the pirate stated, where Twilight got the bit of confirmation she needed to see that her earlier thoughts were right, blue energy danced around her arms for a moment as she tapped into her Blue Eco, something that caused her to smile for a moment as she noticed that Jak and the others were a little surprised by this development, before she focused on Twilight again, "but my title is simple, I'm known as the 'Blue Sage'... and you cannot be Twilight Sparkle, so allow me to teach you some manners."
Jak knew that this would become a problem at some point, as people were used to him being with three pony sisters, as it was the term people used to describe his sisters, since they weren't Human, but as he thought about that he and the rest of his group watched as Twilight and Naomi started to circle around the arena they would be fighting in, something that caused the patrons to move out and give them some space to fight. Once the area was cleared out, and Barter had made sure to raise his own defenses against being hurt, was when things got interesting, as Naomi focused on her power once more and rushed forward, at a speed that was far faster than the eye could follow, or at least normal eyes since Jak and his sisters tapped into their own powers for a moment to be able to see what happened next. Twilight, on the other hand, didn't need to go that far to see her opponent, as she could see the Eco in the air and in everything that was around her right now, another sign of her true nature awakening and influencing her, though she tapped into the Eco Reflexes power as well as she rushed forward not a few seconds later, were she and Naomi clashed in the middle of what was currently their arena, their blades crossing as sparks flew. For a second nothing happened, the two staring at each other as Naomi likely thought about the fact that a person smaller than her would be able to stall her weapon like this, given that she was taller than Twilight, before they separated from each other and Naomi took a chance to move herself in such a way that looked like she was going to be kicking Twilight in the side of the head, all to knock her out and bring this battle to an end before something happened to her.
Twilight, seeing the attack coming with ease, jumped backwards and swung her right hand as she levitated her gun, which was when a Human sized Eco Construct appeared in front of her, one that went flying towards her foe, who switched up her attack as she pulled her body back, before her foot made contact with the crystal, and she smashed through it with a blast from her pistol, sending that and several fragments back towards Twilight. It wasn't hard for one to figure out that it had been infused with Blue Eco, especially since a normal blast from a pistol would have done nothing, to which she left out a huff as she switched to the Eco Shield for a moment, cancelling out the incoming attack before she focused on the area that Naomi was standing in and fired upon her, intending to strike her down from a distance. What that meant was that she was using her gun this time around, to make sure she hit her target, and with her magic levitating the weapon it had to be harder for someone to track it and react to her attacks, and yet she found that Naomi was able to sense when the gun was firing upon her and moved accordingly, dodging the short burst of attacks with ease, where she understand that her foe was experienced in fighting and was using her inner powers to sense when her attacks were coming. It had to be all of the bits of Blue Eco that were inside the weapon, or maybe she was just that good and her experience was what the answer was this time around, though in that moment both of them seemed to sense what was coming and fired at the other with a barrage of pistol blasts that ended up striking each other in the middle of their arena, before Naomi decided to roll off to the side and escaped Twilight's attacks.
In that moment, as Naomi came to a stop, she raised her empty hand, having decided to sheath her gun since neither one of them seemed to be having much success with it right now, before sending out a powerful arc of blue lightning, no doubt a skill she learned at some point in time, since this was associated with Blue Eco, hence all of the machines with bits of pure blue lightning in the Blue Sage's hut back when she and her siblings living in Sandover. In that moment the lightning just struck the area in front of Twilight, who stared at it for a few seconds before it started to swirl around her, which was the moment she sent it back at Naomi without giving her time to react, where Jak found that the pirate stood still and braced herself as her body reabsorbed the Blue Eco that had been spent in the attack, though knowing his sister that must have been intentional in some manner. With that done Naomi burst out of where she had been standing on went on the attack once more, this time opting to use her fists and feet to assault Twilight, who found that her dwindling physical power was a problem once more and that Naomi was definitely pushing herself to beat her, where Twilight groaned as she called forth more of her powers to battle her foe, using a bit of Red and Yellow Eco to boost her physical damage, Blue to speed her up to catch up with Naomi, and Green to either heal her or defend herself. That allowed Twilight to overpower the incoming attack and knock her opponent backwards once more, where they lashed out at each other with their Eco powers and whatever weapon they felt like using, which happened to be their blades since both of them found that using their guns didn't seem to solve anything and slowed their fight down, causing sparks to fly as the pair danced around each other and moved around the bar, all while the patrons cheered for them.
While Jak kept a straight face, since he had faith that his sister would be able to win, he, his other sisters, and their Ottsels knew that the longer this took to resolve, and the more power Twilight brought to bare against Naomi, the more effects she would face once they stopped fighting, though sure enough he watched as his sister stumbled at one point and, as he expected, Naomi took advantage of it as she kicked Twilight in the chest and knocked her back into some tables, which broke and collapsed on top of her.
"You fight like an experienced fighter, but you ain't Twilight Sparkle," Naomi commented, where she smirked as she stared at the wreckage she had caused and the foe that wasn't beaten yet, as she had a feeling that the stranger wasn't done yet, a fact that would allow her to drill in who was the captain and who was the follower, though in that moment she felt a slight change in the air as energy seemed to gather around where her foe had fallen, "What is this?"
In that moment Starlight felt a surge of magical energy as the chairs and other fallen furniture were lifted into the air, even the ones that hadn't fallen on top of their sister, where Twilight stood up not a few seconds later and they found that there was an aura of magical and Eco energy that seemed to be mixed together, power that seemed to radiate the vibe of what a Prism Sage should have, especially since the aura seemed to be almost rainbow colored in nature. They also found a new light in her eyes, as they seemed to display a level of power that told anyone that they were dealing with a dangerous foe, though while everyone was taken aback by this display, and Naomi was surprised by the sudden change, the siblings knew what was going on, Twilight seemed to be burning through her own energy so she could secure the Coordinate Sphere the pirate had, not caring about the consequences of her actions. Twilight, now displaying the full power of a Prism Sage, or at least they assumed that was what they were seeing, staggered for a moment as she raised her hand and disappeared not a few seconds later, where Jak and his sisters found that they had to tap into their own powers for a moment to see that she struck Naomi several times, purely with her fists, before knocking her to the floor. In that moment she coughed as she used her magic to seize her foe's blade, making sure that both of them were resting in a threatening position near the her target's neck so Naomi would realize what sort of a position she was in, especially since she had her Ottsel foot right on her foe's stomach so the blades could be positioned correctly.
"Well what do you know, you are Twilight Sparkle... I yield to you." Naomi stated, showing that she knew the stories about Twilight, her powers, and what her siblings were capable of, that her earlier statement might have been to see her power and see if all of the tales were true, though with her submitting to Twilight that meant Jak and his sisters would claim the second of the three Coordinate Spheres they needed, to which she helped Naomi up, who claimed the artifact from Barter and handed it to Jak, before they heard something fall and found Twilight resting on the floor, her body twitching like she was in pain, "What's happening to her?"
Jak immediately sprung into action as he had Starlight and Cozy tap into their Green Eco, because a big wave was going to hit them and they needed to get Twilight to Keira, who might be able to stabilize their sister before something bad struck her, with Daxter and Tess, despite the pain they would be in, did their best to help her as well, allowing him to head out to the Hellcat with Naomi following after him, as she was curious about things. This was one of those times where Jak felt that breaking the rules was the reasonable thing to do, where he opened the line to the Phantom Blade and informed Keira of what was going on, in part anyway since all he had to say was that Twilight was in trouble, before he climbed into the ship and surprised Naomi by the magical space behind the pilot seat, though with that done he got moving. It took him no time to reach the bar and he found that his sisters were carrying Twilight outside, with the Ottsels on her chest as they tried to do something about her condition, where Starlight formed a magical ramp for her and Cozy to use to carry Twilight into the ship, moving her to the back section to try and stabilize her, though once the magic was gone Jak headed back to the Phantom Blade with all haste. Naomi was still in the dark about what was going on, but she remained silent as they came up on the large ship and Jak docked without wasting time, where they waited for a few moments as it brought them to the docking bay and Jak was able to turn off the Hellcat, and sure enough he found Keira and Phoenix standing nearby, likely worried about what might be happening to Twilight this time around.
Keira, seeing the state that Twilight was in, decided not to do bother pulling her to her workstation, rather they pulled her out of the ship and she tapped into her own power for a time, Naomi discovering that she was in the presence of a Green Sage, another surprise among what she had discovered since meeting Jak, before her aura returned as she joined them, as it looked like all the Sages were trying to stabilize Twilight, with Starlight focusing on Yellow and Cozy going with Red as all of them focused on Twilight. Phoenix, not having any powers to aid them with, watched as Twilight screamed in pain as the next changes finally took hold of her body, the orange fur spread down her left arm and stopped at her wrist, moving all the way down to her knee on the right leg as well, and seemed to start creeping on the middle of her stomach and the rest of her body, before heading up the back of her head once everything else stopped. Not a few moments later they watched as Twilight's pony ears shuddered and changed before their eyes, as they became thinner and taller as both moved into the position that an Ottsel's ears were in, to the point where she had a pair of Ottsel ears that made her resemble Tess a lot more, showing the siblings that it was only a matter of time before she lost her pony form and totally transformed into an Ottsel. In addition to that Jak watched as Twilight's height dropped once more, coming to a stop at four feet this time, before they were able to deal with the pain and she seemed to slip into a slumber of some kind, to rest after the pain her body had been in, causing them to withdraw their powers and huff for a few seconds, knowing that they must have been successful in helping her out, but with that done Keira picked Twilight up and carried her off to her workstation, so she and the others could keep an eye on her before they reached the location of the third Coordinate Sphere, the final piece of the puzzle before they sought out the Eco Core.
Jak had no idea if they could do anything to help Twilight at this point in time, as the transformation into an Ottsel had to be at the final hurdle, because with how intense the last few had been he was sure that the next one would either be the penultimate or even the final one, before he sighed and focused on help Keira and understanding more about Naomi, as it would kill some time before they figured out where to go next so they could find the Eco Core.