Jak and Daxter: Children of Eco

by Blackdrag-rose

Renegade: Consequences

Jak carefully helped Pinkie over the various platforms that were in their path, which were really more like steps that would require a single jump if he wasn't carrying his sister in his arms, though before he made the jump he made sure that both of the ottsels were on his shoulders. As he glanced at Raven for a moment he had to wonder what secrets the dark furred ottsel was hiding, because he had held back the information that he was a Metal Head until it suited them, which told him that he had to be keeping something else hidden from them. That, of course, made him wonder if Pinkie knew everything about the strange creature that was riding on his right shoulder, but at the moment there was no way to tell what someone knew and what someone didn't know.

It didn't take them very long to reach the elevator that would take them to the base of the palace, though Jak was surprised to find that there was no one guarding the entrance on their side, but he quickly approached the door, which opened for him, and made his way outside... where the door closed and locked once they were clear of the building. He looked around at all of the available zoomers they could use, though instead of deciding to steal one he spotted a zoomer with two seats resting near where he and the others were standing.

"Pinkie, I'm going to set you down and pick up that zoomer over there," Jak said, though as he side the words he gently placed his sister on the steps that they were standing on, while beckoning towards the zoomer in question, "I'll be right back... and then we can go somewhere safe."

He had been hoping for Pinkie to say something, or anything really, but all she did was barely look in his direction and gave him the smallest nod he had ever seen, because it looked like she had barely moved her head. Jak sighed and headed towards the zoomer, as he left Daxter and Raven to keep his sister company, and attempt to cheer her up in some way, but when he returned he found that she was still depressed. He couldn't imagine the pain that she was going through, that she had discovered that the Baron was her father by law, and had been ever since they were children, and that her father had basically called her a worthless tool... one that he was perfectly fine with disposing of.

Pinkie looked like her mind had been shattered, as her reality had been torn asunder and the pieces scattered to the four corners of the world... and yet Jak had no idea how to help her come to terms with what she had discovered, to which he sighed and carefully set her into the seat next to his, before heading towards the Underground's hideout.

It didn't take Jak long to maneuver their zoomer to the location of the Underground's hideout, though he had to be sure that none of the guards were paying attention before he made his way around the corner and parked the zommer near the entrance. After discovering that he and Pinkie have already caused the deaths of several members of the Underground, by simply joining their ranks by the sounds of it, he wanted to make sure that they didn't deliver the enemy to their own doorstep. He waited for a few seconds, allowing Daxter and Raven to check and be sure that they hadn't been spotted, before gently helping Pinkie out of the zoomer and helping her down the stairs that were in front of them.

Once they were down in the lower level of the hideout they discovered that Torn was pissed off about something, while at the same time discovering that Kor was there, along with the two children he and Pinkie had seen when they had first escaped the Fortress... which he now suspected had to be this timeline's version of him and his sister.

"The whole city is on high alert!" Torn proclaimed angrily, which told Jak that the Baron must have set out a notice the moment he had gotten away from the palace, though at the same time he noticed that Pinkie had decided to sit with her back against the wall on the left of the hideout's entrance, "What did you do? And what's her problem?"

"We climbed up to the Baron's palace with the intent on finding out some information to help the cause," Jak explained, though at the same time he already knew that nothing would get rid of the anger that Torn was feeling, "we might have tripped an alarm on the way up, but we did uncover something interesting while we were up there."

"What you found out had better be good," Torn growled, indicating that he wasn't too pleased with their actions, as Jak had basically gone over his head and had forced Pinkie to do the same thing, "because I didn't authorize a strike on the Baron or the palace."

"I wouldn't call it a strike," Raven commented, though at the same time he moved over to where Pinkie was sitting and moved some of the hair of out her eyes, while at the same time thinking about ways that would cheer her up, "neither side attacked each other... up until the Baron messed with Pinkie and enraged her."

"Anyway, we overheard a secret meeting with the leader of the Metal Heads." Jak explained, hoping that Torn would be pleased with what he was going to tell him and Kor, though he already knew that it would take some time to earn back whatever trust they had just broken, "It appears that the Baron is trading Eco with the Metal Heads... though at the same time it appears that he's planning on double crossing them when he's completed whatever he's planning. He's searching for the Tomb of Mar, if I understood the tone he was using after the meeting was over, though Daxter and I discovered that Ashelin is the Baron's daughter."

"And your not pissed off that I held that information back from you?" Torn asked, though his tone indicated that he was pleased about something for once, as it meant that Jak might be able to withstand his own anger towards such things.

"Hard to be when your own sister is the Baron's second daughter," Daxter replied, to which he picked up the folder that he and Raven had been carrying, which he immediately moved towards Torn, "That will explain everything that we discovered when the Baron confronted us... and then we'll have to tell you what the Baron said that really set Pinkie off. Seriously, if I wasn't frightened over what I saw up there, when she blew a fuse, I would be singing praises of her awe and the whole nine yards."

"I'll have to take a look at this," Torn said, to which he picked up the folder and stared at it for a few seconds, though that was followed by him refocusing on Jak, "Since you've stirred up the wumpbee's nest, you and Daxter here need to pick up four of our people and move them to new safe houses. You'll need to shuttle each agent to a location they specify, though I would appreciate it if you could move all of them without killing any of them, especially after the disaster a few days ago. Normally I'd say something about not screwing up, but I know that you would sooner die than let one of our agents die, so I'll simply wish you luck instead."

"Just tell me where each of the agents are and I'll head out immediately," Jak replied, though at the same time hated to think that he'd be doing this mission without Pinkie, because it didn't seem like she was going to stir at the moment.

Once Jak had the information in hand, and knew where the four agents were, he exited the hideout and returned to the zoomer that he had parked outside. The moment he and Daxter were sitting in the main seat, as he was keeping the other open for the agents, Jak turned on the engine and started moving towards the first agent. As it turned out the first target was around the corner, though he required being moved towards the entrance of the Industrial Sector of the city as he climbed into the zoomer. The instant they started moving they were under attack by the Krimzon Guard, to which Daxter took up the Morph Gun and started firing at anyone that followed them, though the moment they dropped off the first agent Jak moved them towards the second one.

The second agent they had to pick up happened to be standing close to the entrance of the Fortress, or at least a row back from the main door, though his drop off point happened to be resting near the security lock for Dead Town. It took some a few extra seconds to reach the agent's requested destination, as they had to maneuver around the guards and their vehicles, but they managed to drop him off without hurting him. The third agent was standing near the Water Slums and wanted them to drop him off near the area that rested near the stadium, or more accurately the area before the threshold between the two sectors, but he was dropped off with some ease.

They found the final agent standing near the part of the Fortress they had escaped from, where they first encountered Kor and the children, though his drop off point happened to be in the Water Slums, so Jak carefully maneuvered his way through the area until he dropped off the agent... to which he parked under a walkway, far from the entrance to this sector, and waited for the guards to stop searching for him. A few minutes passed before the Krimzon Guard finally gave up on trying to find them, though once they were gone Jak moved them out from their hiding spot and headed back towards the hideout. On the way back, however, they received a transmission from Torn, one that indicated that it was time to come back so they could wait out the alert, while at the same time giving Jak another mission to do.

When they got back they discovered that Kor and the children were gone, though at the same time Jak noticed that Pinkie was standing now... and then noticed that she really wasn't paying attention to what was going on around her.

"This just gives me another reason to hate the Baron," Torn commented, to which he tossed the folder that he had been reading from back onto the table, where the papers moved out of it a tiny bit, though at the same time Jak could tell that he was pissed, "He finds a random girl out on the streets, decides to see how the prince reacts to her presence, and then, when he discovers that the prince likes her, he adopts her with the intention on using her to get at the throne. The girl disappears with the prince when the palace is attacked, only for the Baron to 'adopt' our Pinkie when she appeared four years ago, only this time he intended to kill all of us at some point in time. And then he has the nerve to shatter everything she knows and basically called her worthless... now I really want to wrap my hands around his neck and kill him myself, even if I know I'll never get the chance."

"That pretty much sums everything up," Jak said, though at the same time he hoped that his sister would be able to move soon, because he had the feeling there was a more important mission coming up, "So, what's this other mission you wanted us to go on?"

"Several of our scouts report movement in Dead Town." Torn replied, though at the same time he struggled to keep his anger in check, which told Jak that the Baron had something to do with this mission, "It appears that Metal Heads are moving towards the sacred site... just like before."

"Dare I ask what happened the last time the Metal Heads were making their way towards this 'sacred site'?" Daxter asked, though he knew that Raven might be able to answer the question, seeing how he was actually a Metal Head himself.

"Metal Heads broke through the old city wall." Raven answered, though at the same time his knowledge seemed to surprise Torn, "From what I know the city's guard fought them after they broke through, but then the Baron ordered them to pull back, effectively leaving everyone outside the 'new barrier' to die. Rumor has it that the Shadow stayed and somehow stopped the attack."

"Let me guess," a voice said, to which everyone turned towards Pinkie, who was now glaring at Torn through the opening in her hair, "you want us to go out there and secure the site before the Metal Heads accomplish whatever they came here to do."

"You catch on fast!" Torn replied, though at the same time he didn't know whether he should be pleased that Pinkie was talking or shocked by how menacing she looked, "If you prevent the Metal Heads from reaching the sacred site, the Shadow will be... most grateful. He might even ask to see you. Oh, and here's a Vulcan Barrel for your Morph Guns. Believe me, you're gonna need it!"

Jak nodded for a second and picked up the Vulcan attachment, though when he slipped it into his gun he discovered that it made everything look like a mini-gun, which pleased him a little bit. As he slipped the weapon away he noticed that Pinkie was staring at the second attachment, the one that was meant for her, but she simply sighed and slipped it into place on her gun, before returning it to its holder. The moment they had the attachment, and there was nothing else that Torn wanted to tell them, they headed outside and climbed into the zoomer once more, to which they headed off in the direction of Dead Town.

---

It didn't take them long to reach their destination, as it was rather easy to find there way to this security lock, though as they moved into the area in front of them Pinkie and Jak discovered that the Metal Heads were definitely hanging around the area, searching for the sacred site by the looks of it. Most of the enemies they could see were the smaller foes that could be dealt with by using a single blast from the Scatter Mod, though they also noticed that there were beasts, grenade launchers, and gun carrying enemies in attendance as well. It appeared that the Metal Heads had actually brought in a small army, or a small force, to secure whatever was in the sacred site, but the numbers didn't matter to them at the moment... not when Pinkie had an idea that would cull their numbers in a matter of seconds.

"Hey Raven," Pinkie commented, causing the dark ottsel on her shoulder to turn and look at her for a few seconds, "what do you say to transforming and showing our enemies the power of a true Metal Head?"

Raven remained silent for a few seconds, as he was debating whether that was a good idea or not, considering how close they were to the actual city and the fact that Torn had scouts spying on all the areas they had been to throughout the entirety of Haven City. That was quickly followed by him letting out a sigh as he jumped onto the ground and started the charge towards the other Metal Heads, as he decided that Torn and the Underground would soon understand who was fighting on their side. Jak and Pinkie followed after Raven, giving him enough room to transform into his hybrid form and smash into a terrified pair of Metal Heads that didn't move from where they were standing.

As Jak and Pinkie made their way around the new path that was available to them, and used their Vulcan attachments to deal damage to the enemies in front of them, Raven flew around and clawed his chosen targets to pieces... or outright tearing them apart in some instances. With their combined abilities the group was able to make their way through the new section of Dead Town with some ease, which allowed Pinkie to relax a tiny bit and attempt to forget about what she had learned about herself. Unfortunately that was short lived, as the moment they reached the end of the path they were following they spotted a nearly ruined house that looked like Samos' old hut, which told them that this was definitely the world they had been living in... only now they were in the future, instead of the past they knew so well.

With all of the Metal Heads dealt with, and confirmed by Raven when he reverted back to his ottsel form, the group headed out of Dead Town and made their way back to the hideout... as it was time to finally meet the mysterious Shadow and see if they couldn't do some real damage to the Baron's operations.

Comments

[HB_DS2013]

Praxis is gonna need all the luck he can scrounge to survive Pinkamena's wrath.

[HeartfireFirebrand]

8657688
Agreed

[Midnight Moon]

8657688

8674448

Survive? He's going to need all the luck he can get to earn a quick death.