Once things were settled, the group began investigating their craft to see what repairs were needed. Eventually, Jak spoke up. "Well, aside from a few dents and that gash in the engine, we're still sky worthy."
"If we can find more Geen Eco fuel," Keira pointed out harshly. "And if I can repair the power cells your stunt damaged." This time her glare was quite fierce and pointed straight at Jak, who flinched back visibly.
"Whoa!" Shining spoke up, rearing back. "What brought this on? Don't you think you're being a little hard-"
"You mean the fact that I'm stranded on an island in the middle of nowhere with Jak, and the three things keeping it from being a perfect fantasy moment is your presence, Daxter's presence, and the fact that the world's coming to an end?" Keira interrupted waspishly. "Yeah, can't imagine why that isn't frustrating at all!" Seeing her hands clenching around one of her tools hard enough to bend the metal, she did her best to relax. "Sorry about that...things have gotten just a bit...tense..."
Daxter hopped swiftly to Shining's back. "Translation," he whispered softly, "her change of wardrobe has nothing to do with the colder environment."
"Huh?" Shining asked, now even more confused.
"Why don't we look around here see if we can find some Green Eco?" Jak suggested quickly. "There isn't enough Eco right in this spot to attract creatures of any sort, so you should be perfectly fine to work unguarded, and this way you won't have as many distractions."
"That sounds like a good idea..." Keira offered, closing her eyes and pressing her forehead against the cold metal of the craft, taking a few deep breaths. "There's a fighting staff I put together in the boot, based off Damas' preferred weapon. It's made of Precursor Metal and even can use gun mods if you find them. Might help tip the balance if you find any more pirates."
Nodding, Jak pulled out the red and brown weapon, taking in the curved blade edges at the end and feeling how in tune it was with his natural Eco flows. "Thanks," he stated warmly before quickly leading the way into the available wilderness. Shining and Daxter followed swiftly behind him.
"So...is anyone going to explain to me what that was about?" Shining asked worriedly.
"Keira's body is getting very vocal about being ready for children," Daxter explained. "As such, it's much more stressful for her mind to tell it 'no', especially since her Green Eco has already started reacting to the proximity of Jak's six colors, even when they aren't even touching. Part of taking this Spirit Quest for her is finding a better way to control that."
"Oh..." Shining murmured, eyes wide in nervousness. "So...is that why Samos suggested I nap in the boot to be sure I was on time to say goodbye? Did he want to sneak me along as an extra chaperone?"
"Distinct possibility," Jak murmured, suppressing a chuckle. "Boy, even when he doesn't know what's going to happen, he's clever with setting things up."
The land they began to explore was rather small, the unusually configured island stretching more up and down than north, south, east, or west. Water flowed endlessly in the river, descending off the side into the abyss that was the Brink, a seemingly bottomless pit in which nothing could be seen but white fog. The only animal life found on the island were Dark Eco mutants, resembling oversized red armadillos with spiked backs. A single blow from Jak caused their bodies to break into Dark Eco.
Plantlife proved limited to grass and gnarled, twisted, fruitless trees. The island itself proved to not be the one continuous piece it had appeared at first glance, with several rocky outcrops the group was forced to leap across to. Thankfully, Shining Armor's magic made much of the progress far easier than it could have been otherwise. Eventually, they found a large green crystal growing out of the rocks.
"This looks like the Eco Crystals we gathered when dealing with the Dark Makers," Shining murmured softly as they examined it. "But...we only ever encountered Light and Dark Crystals. I didn't know Green Eco could crystallize."
Jak lifted up the crystal, feeling the power inside of it. "Well, Keira said we needed Green Eco. This ought to be enough."
"Then let's get back to the ship," Daxter insisted, glancing around worriedly. "This place gives me the creeps..."
As they made their way back to the crash site, two of the Dark Eco mutants knocked a boulder over onto a bridge they needed to cross, breaking it. When the mutants leapt down, Daxter let off a blast of Light Eco, only to let out a scream of pain as he clutched at that arm.
"Daxter!" Jak and shining both shouted out worriedly as they turned to look at him.
"I'm okay!" Daxter gasped out, rubbing the arm. "Think...I'm seeing what Elder was warning us about this place. Think I'm gonna try and find a way to not do that in the future..."
"Ride," Shining instructed, levitating Daxter onto his back. Clearing the broken bridge, the trio then made their way across it and back to the ship.
While Shining took Daxter to the side to tend to him, Jak brought the crystal to Keira. "Look at this," he offered, handing it over. "It's full of Green Eco...and it's warm. Green Eco's not supposed to behave like this..."
"This is...very unusual..." Keira mused as she carefully cradled the crystal in her hands. After a time, she gasped in shock. "This...this is impossible!"
"What's it doing, exactly?" Jak asked curiously. "It felt...strange."
"I can't be sure, but it seems to be acting like the Eco Converters I reverse engineered back in Sandover," Keira mused. "The ones I made so Shining could use his magic to double jump? It's converting...something into Green Eco, but the Eco isn't behaving properly."
"Felt like it was sucking Dark Eco right out of the air," Jak pointed out. "Any chance we could use it for the ship?"
"I think so. If I hook it into the fuel relays, add a power condenser and a few loop circuits to stabilize..." Keira popped open the engine compartment and began tinkering. "If it works...we should be able to run the ship on the Dark Eco in the air all around us!"
"Wait..." Daxter began. "Does that mean the same process could convert Dark Eco into other colors?"
"With the right tools and research, yes," Keira confirmed. "Of course, the proof is in the pudding...or in this case, the tinkering." Leaning in, she started working on interfacing the Green Prism into the ship's innards.
Interesting use for giant crystals. But do any of the crystals give the ship a unique ability like a super shield, stronger lasers, stealth cammo, or anything along those lines???? Because it would be interesting to see the ship get power ups from other crystals Jak might find either on islands or in the remains of pirate ships.
7541489
...that was literally just what the game did with it, just with a bit more depth to the explanation.
7541504 I've never played the game.... Is there a Light Prism that is basically a cheat mode that gives the ship all special abilities at once for a limited time??? I'm gonna assume they can't use everything at once normally. If not, Jak, Shining, and Daxter working together could probably make one.
7541531
I've never played the game either. I'm working from a walkthrough on Youtube.
This feels a bit odd. Is someone besides Jak supposed to be speaking in the second quote?
7541593
Fixed. Added a missing line of dialogue.
the unusually configured island stretching more up and down then north, south, east, or west
1. I believe you meant Than in this case.
This game had some pretty broken mechanics with the introduction of Eco Powers. I'm curious how Shining, Daxter, and Jak will use this to their advantage.
Hmmm... Predictions, predictions... Ah! I know! Jak and that air-pirate guy, I forget his name, end up bonding with a fist fight over Keira. I remember a bar brawl being in the game, though I don't recall if it happened on the ship or somewhere else........ To the Youtube cave! *Dons Retro Batman costume and slings away on a grappling hook.*
...Okay, that was a little out there by even my standards...
Man, with that chapter title, and the situation they're in, I was right back to the state I was in while watching Star Trek: Voyager! Loved it, Tatsurou, you rock!
I wonder how Shining will react when he makes it back to Equestria and hears that his sister sounds just like his soon-to-be-sister-in-law.
7542099
The Green Crystal formation described here is what you find on that first island in the very first gameplay element that lets you fly again.
7542142 Technically, it was called an Eco Prism.
That was fun, may I have another? Looking forward to more.
Keep up the great work. Deus tecum.
7542643
I didn't say anything about using other crystals to upgrade the ship.
And I haven't seen that part of the game yet, so I can't voice an opinion.
I don't know this game... but I have been entranced by the entire story so far. Keep up the good work. :)
Well, Shinning is also not getting any. Thankfully there aren't any other talking equines around, right?
7547680 Like that's ever been a problem in Tatsurou's fics before?
Look at who he is shipping with Twilight. With Chrysalis.
I see what you did there, Tatsurou. You're using chapter wordplay. First The Dark is Rising Sequence, now Star Trek. I love it!
7547680 Pinkie had it worse. Literally, nothing loved her like she loved them. The only way out was to return to Equestria leading to Big Mac being her release. Ugh. If you know what I-
I'm done.
7544034
I don't know this one either. I think it's due to the failed- outside of Japan that is -console that is the ps vita.
8840490
Nope, it was a PS2 game. Came out... 10-ish years ago?