Jak and Daxter: Children of Eco

by Blackdrag-rose

Precursor: Lava Tubes

Jak, Daxter, and Pinkie made a quick stop by the Oracle that was located in the volcanic crater, where Jak traded two hundred and forty Precursor Orbs to the ancient Precursor idol for the two Power Cells that it contained. At that moment the trio knew that they had more than enough Power Cells to get through whatever else happened to be in their way, as they only needed seventy-two of them to power the heat shield for their ride through the Lava Tubes. With the trade completed the trio made their way back to the first set of tracks and climbed onto the first available trolley that was moving passed them, to which they patiently waited for it to reach their destination, though that was a surprise to Jak and Pinkie considering that Daxter actually followed their lead on this one.

Once they were near the opening of the Lava Tubes they climbed off of the trolley and carefully made their way down to the teleport pad that Keira used to make sure that the zoomer arrived wherever Jak and Pinkie needed it... and it seemed like she was currently putting the finishing touches on it as they approached her.

"Alright!" Keira cheered, once again leaving the trio to wonder if she was celebrating their finding of all the Power Cells they needed or her own ability to come up with mechanical answers, especially with technology she was still developing, "With these additional Power Cells I should be able to supply the heat shield with enough power to stand up to this lava! But the shield still has a limit. It will now withstand temperatures up to 800 degrees, but no more, so keep an eye on your gauge. I don't want to think about what those temperatures would do to your Zoomer if the shield gives out."

"Yeah, the heat..." Daxter said, raising a hand to his chin for a moment, before something crossed his mind and made him shout the next word out loud, "WHAT?! The Zoomer?! Hey! What about us?! Couldn't we look for a safer route to Gol's citadel?"

"Daxter, this is the quickest route to the citadel," Pinkie commented, reaching into her hair and pulling out a map of the area, again stunning Keira by how strange Jak's sister was with that unusual ability, before she showed the map to her friend, "if we take any of the safer routes, and come at the citadel from another angle, it could take us days that the world doesn't have."

"Besides, I've released more cooling balloons into the Lava Tubes." Keira added, just so Daxter knew that they weren't completely risking their lives without any way to save them, and the zoomer, from the heat that they would be flying over, "So you can use them to keep the temperature down. And don't forget to activate the teleport gate in the Yellow Sage's lab. We're counting on you!"

With that said Keira carefully climbed out of the area they were in and made her way back to the Red Sage's hut, leaving the trio to figure out who was going to be driving the zoomer and who was going to be riding along... though they eventually decided that Jak would be in the driver's seat, leaving Daxter and Pinkie to sit in the sidecar. Daxter asked Pinkie why she didn't drive the vehicle, considering that she had some moves thanks to what she had shown them in the Precursor Basin, but all Pinkie said was that Jak was more skilled than she was with the zoomer at the moment.

While she and Jak had been training, before the three of them had decided to go to Misty Island and begin this entire adventure on accident, Jak had spent some time with Keira, helping her fix up the zoomer. Daxter had been getting into trouble, as usual, and Pinkie had been making sure she knew what she could about the Eco that thrived around their world. That meant that Jak was the one who was more attuned to the machine than Pinkie would be without some additional practice, but they didn't have time for that at the moment... not when the fate of the world rested on Jak getting them to Gol and Maia's citadel.

"The only thing we're interested in along the way is the Scout Flies," Jak commented, powering on the zoomer as he took his place on the main part of the vehicle, "If you see one, tell me and I'll try to get it. If you see any orbs, we'll come back for them once we save the world."

With that said he moved off of the teleport pad the zoomer was on and they were off, heading down the Lava Tubes that would allow them to reach the location of Gol and Maia's citadel, where at least two, maybe three, of the other Sages were being held against their will. Within a few seconds Jak had to slow them down to make a turn before they went flying into the lava, to which he carefully maneuvered around the track before bringing them to an area that had quite a few number of rock pillars, a few cooling balloons, and the first Scout Fly, which was on the right side of the area.

After that Jak took them down another path, one that separated into two smaller paths that joined up a few seconds later, but he noticed one of the cooling balloons was in the way and drove down the path that it was on, doing the same thing on the next split to make sure he didn't overheat the zoomer and kill them all. He then rounded a corner and jumped over a gap, finding that the second Scout Fly in the area happened to be in his way, so neither Daxter nor Pinkie spoke up about it as he collected it for them. A few seconds later he flew through three Yellow Eco vents as he jumped into an area that looked like a grinder or a power generator, though all three of them agreed that taking it out would lower the door that was blocking their path.

Jak and Pinkie, having armed themselves with the Yellow Eco they had passed through, loosed a few fireballs at the glowing orbs that were moving in a circular pattern, though once they had been taken care of the trio was free to move on again, to which Jak sent them flying through the opening they had unlocked.

With that done he pushed them into an area that had some bombs hanging in front of them, which allowed him and Pinkie to discharge the rest of their Yellow Eco and removed them, though he followed a path on his left that brought him to the third Scout Fly. He then continued forward, jumping into the air whenever there was a gap between sections of the pipe he was following, allowing the cool air above them to rapidly decrease the amount of heat that the shielding was feeling and giving them additional time to reach the end before the zoomer expired on them. Jak eventually brought them to another section of the Lava Tubes that had more of the bombs waiting for them, though this time there were also moving containers that were filled with Dark Eco passing through the path they were taking.

Jak drove through a Yellow Eco vent and empowered both himself and Pinkie, to which they both opened fire on the bombs and the containers that were blocking their path, though a few seconds later they had found and recovered the fourth Scout Fly for this area... only to run into the crate containing the fifth Scout Fly not a moment later. Jak then carefully took them down another pipe area that brought them to a passage filled with bombs and Dark Eco containers, just like the one they had passed through a minute or two ago, to which Pinkie pointed out the sixth Scout Fly for them to grab. From that point on it became their task to avoid both the Dark Eco containers and the bombs that were in their way, while collecting enough cooling balloons to keep themselves stable... as well as grab the seventh Scout Fly and its Power Cell along the way.

Once they had gotten what Jak had told them they should be keeping their eyes on, he stabilized them with another cooling balloon and continued along the path they were on... until they were eventually launched off of the path they were on, passed two bombs that were hanging in the air, and landed on a teleport pad that happened to have another Power Cell for them to grab. As they climbed off of the zoomer, and stretched their legs, Jak also stepped on the button that would activate the teleport gate, which would allow Samos and Keira to join them for the final part of their journey.

For a moment nothing happened, save for the gate turning on, though before anyone could make a remark Keira suddenly appeared before their eyes, though she seemed upset about something.

"Hey! Where's old short green and wrinkly?" Daxter asked, though at the same time he had the feeling that all three of them knew exactly what Keira was about to tell them.

"This is terrible! Father is missing!" Keira stated, confirming the worst fears that the trio had at the moment, because Samos had been a teacher for Jak and Pinkie, and he had helped them, indirectly, along every stretch of their quest, "I think Gol and Maia may have kidnapped him as well!"

"Relax, sweetheart." Daxter said, cutting off Jak and Pinkie before either of them could say anything, which only seemed to annoy Keira even more, "We're got everything under control."

"Under control?!" Keira angrily replied, surprising Jak, Daxter, and Pinkie by how annoyed she was with that statement, "Lurker armies continue to grow across the land, the Sages have been kidnapped, Gol and Maia have enough eco to complete their terrible plan, and to stop them you're going to have to fight your way through their Citadel!!"

"Uh... yeah. That about uh, sums it up." Daxter simply said, though it was clear that he hadn't been expecting his attempt to reassure Keira to suddenly backfire like that, or make Keira that mad at him.

"You've got to rescue my father and the other Sages before it's too late!" Keira stated, beckoning to the massive door that was in front of them, before turning her attention back to the trio, "Guys... please be careful in there."

The trio nodded their heads and made their way through the gate that was in front of them, which opened with a metallic hiss as they approached it, allowing them to see that the tunnel they were going to have to walk though had some technology that was on a level above what Keira was doing at the moment. After a few seconds they made it through the tunnel, though when they passed through the second door they found themselves in a massive chamber that was dominated by a giant Precursor Robot, one that was held in a Dark Eco field. Not a few seconds later Samos, without any sort of warning, dropped down and revealed that he was locked inside a cage, one that had bars made from Dark Eco... no doubt to prevent him and the other Sages from escaping.

"It's about time you three decided to show up!" Samos said to them, beckoning to the large Precursor Robot that was sitting behind him, "Gol and Maia kidnapped us to sap our energies to power their abominable machine! It appears they have combined the functional remains of a Precursor Robot with scavenged artifacts from across the land. Then they added a few diabolical editions of their own, creating the one thing capable of opening the Dark Eco silos! I suggest that you start with the other three Sages, as they have been here far longer than I have and they are nearly drained of all of their energy... so I suggest that you hurry, otherwise they could drop dead at any moment."

"Okie Dokie Lokie," Jak, Daxter, and Pinkie said at the same time, causing the three of them to look at each other in surprise as Samos brought his palm to his face, which was followed by his cell returning to wherever Gol and Maia had placed it.

With that said the trio looked at the area in front of them, knowing that this would test all of the skills they had developed over the last few days of their journey... all while trying to ignore the fact that if they failed it meant the end of the entire world.

Comments

[Pinkie Glimmer]

Ah, the group survived the Lava Tubes and are beginning the end game level... and they're annoying Samos by saying the same thing at the same time. Gol and Maia, prepare yourselves, because Jak and Pinkie are coming for you.

[Adagio Shimmer]

Well, we're quickly coming to the end game of the first Jak game.
I'll bring the popcorn.

[Sonata Blaze]

At least Pinkie is smart enough to let Jak drive... I was worried that she might insist on doing it herself and accidentally hurt them all.

[Aria Blitz]

8106384 No one can prepare themselves for whatever Pinkie can throw at them. NO ONE!

[Lord Frieza]

A few more chapters and we'll be at the end... and then begin the second game.