Light and Dark
Shining lay back in his hammock as he stared across the room at his brother, slumped over on his bed looking dejected. "Seriously, bro?" he asked. "Is that really how you were trying to get her attention? Who did you learn that cheesy pick up line from, anyway?"
"...shut up..." Jak grumbled back.
Shining chuckled as he rolled his eyes. While he hadn't passed on everything he'd talked about with Samos, he did pass on that the Sage had suggested taking a break and enjoying themselves. Towards that end, Jak had been attempting to progress things with Keira. As such, the entirety of Sandover Village was witness to Jak's attempts at flirting. He wasn't very good. "Seriously bro, if she didn't already like you, you wouldn't have a chance," he chided gently.
"...shut up..." Jak whimpered pathetically.
"Why do you keep posturing about it, anyway?" Shining demanded as Daxter wandered in, skittering across the wall as he adjusted further to his new body. "You're her friend from childhood, a freakin' hero, and the Sages keep acting like you're some sort of 'Chosen One'. Even Gol and Maia have been joining in on that. Stop trying to be something you're not and just be yourself!"
"And then how am I supposed to get Keira to look at me instead of that vehicle for ten minutes?" Jak demanded. "After all, she's seen me before, but that vehicle's brand new."
"You could try helping her with it," Daxter offered logically. "She's got all those tools scattered around. Learn their names, be there when she needs one, and get it for her. Show interest. Girls love when you show interest in what they do."
Jak and Shining both turned to where the ottsel was burying himself in the roof thatch. "And what would you know about girls, my fuzzy friend?" Shining posited.
"You're one to talk about fuzzy," Daxter replied. "And I was paying attention to Maia's research on Dark Eco - figured it might open a few doors as far as whatever abilities I have now - and she seemed to appreciate the genuine interest. ...a little too much, actually, which is why if she comes by, I'm not here." Daxter promptly pulled the inner layer of roof thatch closed around him.
Jak stared at where his friend was hiding for a time, then shrugged. "Well, I've tried just about everything else." Hopping out of bed, he headed off to where Keira was at work.
Shining lay back in the hammock, looking pensive. While he didn't like seeing Jak fail in romancing Keira, he had been glad that his attempts had delayed Keira's work on the vehicle. Samos had implied rather strongly that the peaceful time would end when her work was finished, so the longer it took the better. He was not looking forward to when she finished it.
Still, if it was a choice between Jak's continued depression or hastening their personal Armageddon...Samos did imply they'd at least survive the latter, in all likelihood. And happy memories were supposed to be good armor...
Samos sighed as he gathered his belongings. He knew, more or less, what was to come today. Keira had finally finished her work, and both vehicle and gateway were ready for use, braced just outside Keira's lab. The time for rest and relaxation was at an end.
Walking with his staff, he made his way along the village's bridges towards the gate, seeing Jak, Daxter, Shining, and Keira waiting for him. Shining was looking from vehicle to gate nervously, as though expecting monsters to leap out of either at any moment. Daxter sat on Shining's back, combing the young stallion's mane to calm him down. Jak and Keira sat in the vehicle itself, holding hands. Remembering things he'd seen in his own childhood, Samos couldn't help but chuckle at the sight. Although he admitted privately to himself that if he didn't approve so strongly of Jak, he would not have viewed that with such equanimity.
He cleared his throat as he approached. "Today's the big day, everyone," he announced, drawing their attention. "I hope you're all prepared...for whatever happens."
"I'm ready for anything," Jak replied confidently.
No, my boy, Samos thought silently. No, you are not. But you are as prepared as I could make you...and it won't be enough. When you realize what I could not tell you, I hope you can forgive me...
"I think I've figured out most of this machine," Keira spoke up, indicating the vehicle. "It seems to interact somehow with that large Precursor ring. I'm pretty sure that front panel is a control mechanism of some sort...but I can't determine what either does beyond that without testing it." She stared up in awe at the massive artifact. "I just hope we didn't break anything moving it to the lab."
I can guarantee we did not, Samos thought sadly. Oh, what I wouldn't give to spare you what's to come...but without you, it will all fail...
"Easy for you to say!" Daxter complained. "We did all the heavy lifting!" Hopping into the front seat between Jak and Keira, he reached towards the controls.
"Daxter!" Samos snapped out, barely hiding the fear in his voice. "Don't touch anything! Though the Precursors vanished long ago, the artifacts they left behind can still do great harm!"
"We know," Jak replied with a roll of his eyes, smirking at Keira. "We've seen."
Keira giggled at his reference to their last adventure. "Or great good, Daddy," she pointed out. "Even you have to admit, Gol and Maia's latest research into Dark Eco shows great promise. In its plasma state, Dark Eco can enhance other types of Eco for amazing effects, as long as it's used in carefully controlled circumstances."
"I've had such experience with such things," Samos stated darkly as he took a seat in the vehicle. It was a bit of a tight squeeze, with Keira, Jak, Shining, and Samos all sharing the bench, Daxter on Jak's shoulder. My kingdom for safety harnesses, he thought to himself.
"Well, here goes nothing," Jak muttered, pressing the crystal switch, causing it to light up.
As the capsule opened, revealing a glowing sphere with two spinning rings around it, Daxter applauded. "Looks like Jak's still got the mojo!"
"Interesting," Keira mumbled as she examined the device. "It appears to be reading out some preset coordinates."
As everything began shaking from the vehicle's activation and the gateway responded, Samos clutched his staff tightly, hoping everything would work out as it was supposed to. As he heard the familiar voice announcing the opening of the last Rift Gate, and the Metalhead swarms - creatures of living metal that were a plague upon the world in any time - erupted from within, he could only murmur in awe. "So this is how it happened..."
Shining was never able to recall exactly what happened when they passed through the Rift Gate, or immediately after. He'd been focusing his magic into a shield to protect them from the creatures that came through. However, as soon as they'd entered, the feedback of the transdimensional energy through his magic had knocked him for a loop. The last thing he heard clearly was Samos shouting for he and Jak to 'find themselves'. When they'd landed, he'd been knocked completely out cold.
The next time he came to, his mind and vision were blurry. He couldn't make sense of his thoughts. There was a cold pain against the base of his horn. He heard two voices talking, but they were indistinct. While the words were clear, he knew he'd never know the voices if he heard them again.
"Are you certain about this?"
"Of course I am! The tests have shown that the research is sound!"
"But it's so old! And Dark Eco is incredibly volatile."
"Not in the Plasma state. We've had seven successful infusions."
"If you define 'successful' as 'turning into berserk, overpowered monsters', yes."
"That's why we have these two. They're mentioned in Gol and Maia's notes."
"Yes, and that pair are marked down as having been insane."
"The line between insanity and genius is fine indeed. And they aren't the only ones to mention these two could naturally metabolize Eco in its plasma state. A pity the ottsel got away."
"The city's being searched for him as we speak. But what about the unicorn's abilities?"
"An iron ring with a core of liquid Dark Eco around the base of his horn. He's not going anywhere. We'll start with him."
After that, all Shining knew was pain.
When the pain finally subsided, Shining felt like he was going to die. His body didn't respond to his commands. His thoughts were sluggish. The pain around his horn was worse than before. He wanted to throw up, but his throat wouldn't work right. He felt himself falling, only to land in a pile of something foul smelling. He felt himself fading.
"Shining?"
He knew that voice. "D...Dax...ter...?"
"Oh god, Shining, what did they do to you?" He felt small hands tugging on him, but he wasn't going very far. "Wait here, I'll get help!" He heard the little feet scampering off.
Eventually, those little feet returned, accompanied by larger feet. Shining felt himself being lifted into the air by gentle arms.
And everything went dark.
When Shining came to again, he found himself in a rather comfortable bed in a warmly lit, if small, room. The only thing that marked it as not being a part of Sandover Village was that the walls were made of metal. "W...where...?" he called out weakly.
"Finally speaking again, I see," a feminine voice called out.
Turning, Shining found himself looking at a rather curvaceous blond woman with sharply pointed ears and blue eyes, clad in a dirndl. "Who...?" he began weakly before coughing.
"Hold still," she instructed, bracing his back with her hand as she held a fragrant bowl up to his lips. "Drink this, it will help you."
Leaning forward, Shining began to lap up what proved to be a rather flavorful soup, rich without being overwhelming.
"My name is Misha," the woman explained. "I work as a barmaid in the local brewery.(1) Daxter's a regular customer, always going on about the friends he needs to save when he isn't looking for handouts or odd jobs. When he found you in the dump while scrounging for something to sell for cash, you'd been gone for over a year. He convinced me to take care of you until you were back on your hooves. Didn't expect it to be over six months before you were even awake to do more than drink."
Shining looked up as he finished the soup, feeling a bit better, though not up to moving yet. "Sorry to be such a burden," he replied softly.
"Don't worry about it," Misha replied easily. "Seeing how much he cared about you, I had to help. Besides, he's been paying me ten credits a day for keeping an eye on you between shifts, and a down payment of ten Precursor Orbs. Ten! Those things are rarer than anything, and he handed over ten like it was nothing if it meant getting you well! You sure mean a lot to him."
Shining blinked in confusion. Precursor Orbs, rare? He hoped Daxter was being careful with how he spent them, if they were that valuable here...wherever here was. If he remembered rightly, they had 470 orbs left that hadn't been traded for Power Cells, and Daxter had held onto them. 460, minus the ten he'd paid Misha.
The struggle to think proved too much for him, and he slipped back into unconsciousness. However, he was pretty sure he'd be a bit more stable when he next awoke...
(1) The only thing I'm using from the game "Daxter". While unnamed in the game, readers of my other stories will know I have enjoy giving names to unnamed characters I use.
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I feel like this should be another character speaking.
And then suddenly a giant boulder fell down from the sky and crushed the vehicle. Glancing up, Samos caught sight of a blue striped tail slipping away from the nearby clifftop.
Poor Shining. I'm guessing he's going to have to get used to new abilities. Will there be a Dark Armor form coming soon????
6628315
No. He just doesn't remember the year during which it happened.
Did Shining's body reject treatment? Did he end up in some sort of coma? why did they discard him without killing him? Was he just so close to death that he wasn't even worth killing?
6628389
His body rejected the Dark Eco, though a good portion was absorbed. When he stopped responding to his surroundings - due to his magic fighting the Dark Eco inside him - they tossed him out as a corpse.
6628428 so basically if Shining gets exposed to too much Dark Eco, it could make him become the Son of Sombra?
6628550
Not exactly. The Dark Eco's still inside him, but there's no darkness in his magic for it to anchor to. ...yet.
6628550 oooh shit that would be awesomely bad. Please make that a thing, somehow.
Fast forward to the present day, Shining Armor goes berserk and
almosthurts Cadence and Twilight.6628595 Interesting. I must continue reading to see what you mean.
*Sees Jak entering*
Sh: Your Hair!!!
J: What about it?
Sh: And your voice!!!
J:... yeah?
D: That's puberty!
6628578 And you're going to enjoy every second of it.
I'm not looking forward to Errol in this story arc. That guy's a prick.
Ah crud. I was looking forward to Shining and Daxter fighting off bugs together. Would have made for some great fanart opportunities.
6628331 I never played Jak and Daxter so could you explain the original plot line?
In it's plasma state
1. Its.
Finally, Jak 2 is one of my all time favorite video games. Can't wait to see how this goes.
6629012
Events not actually covered in the games.
6629183 Yeah. Wait no! The events covered in the games!
6629224
Other than what I've already covered...
Jak and Shining were captured by the bad guys of Jak 2 and were experimented on with Dark Eco.
6629257 Cool!
Oh and coulld you do a Lyra with Jack Sparrow and Bon Bon(Changeling) with Ranma Saotome?
6630094
Nope.
6630257 Bollocks. WHY!?
6630313
Lyra and Bon Bon fail my criteria for ponies to use.
Pirates of the Caribbean fails my criteria for worlds to use.
To use Ranma 1/2, the pony would have to be raised alongside Ranma...by Genma. Do you really want that?
6630351 Not by Genma...
How about...RYOGA!?
And why do they fail your criteria?
6630359
I've posted my criteria in several places.
And Ryoga fails all criteria as a character to raise a pony, since he has even less of a timeline.
6630404 OH well...
when Jak finds out what happened to Shining I think Praxis will wind up begging for the sweet and gentle touch of the Reaper.
Well I have a bit of catching up to do. I accidentally unfaved this story.
Back to the re-read after a week of rest.
>"You could try helping her with it," Daxter offered logically.
Ah, theres his intelligence spiking again!~
>"If you define 'successful' as 'turning into berserk, overpowered monsters', yes."
I kinda wondered about that. Obviously they experimented a LOT before they reached faverable results with Jak. So what happened to all those failed experiments? They can't all have been immediately disposed of. Some of them HAD to have escaped, like some sort of metaphorical sewer gator. How come no one ever talks about them?
Why did none of these roided out dark eco monsters ever get screen time in the games or this story?
7100106
In the games, because the experimentation was 100% lethal.
In this story, because they were all let loose in the wasteland, where they were either killed by or turned into Metalheads.
From here on out the kitty mitten come off as I dub this story... Sons of Dumbass. Ever since DB I could not get the pronunciation correct.
Yes! Got to Jak 2! Jak 2 was my favorite game in the series.
Well done and keep up the good work.
I hope Shining goes beserker mode on Errol and Praxis. Those two are jerks.
I thought her name was tess. From Jak 3.
11560526
Different character.