Jak and Daxter: Children of Eco

by Blackdrag-rose

Renegade: A Shocking Discovery

It didn't take Ashelin long to get the cruiser back to Haven City's port, where the train that Jak and Pinkamena had used to get to the entrance of the weapon factory had returned for some reason, though neither of them cared at the moment. They had beaten Krew, even if it was because Raven had shifted into his true form and devoured him whole, and at the same time they had acquired the artifact that they had been looking for; the Heart of Mar. With it they were one step closer to completing Keira's Rift Rider, though to complete it they still needed the Time Map and the actual Rift Ring... and they had no idea where the massive ring was even located at the moment.

A few seconds later Ashelin pulled the cruiser close to the ground, in an area that had no citizens at the moment, and parked it for a moment, allowing Jak and Pinkamena, as well as Daxter and Raven, to climb out... though at the same time Pinkamena handed her sister the Heart of Mar.

"Pinkamena, you and Jak need to find our father, and the Precursor Stone." Ashelin said, though at the same time she made sure that the artifact was secure, so that way when she took off it didn't slide out and fall into the water or anything, "I'll take the Heart of Mar to Keira while you guys look for him... and I want you to know that I'm sorry it's come to this."

Jak nodded his understanding, as he actually wanted to settle the score with the Baron, and waved Ashelin off, as he and Pinkamena had things to do and people to gather... to which they collected their zoomers, which were still in the same place that they had left them in, and returned to the Hip Hog. When they arrived at the saloon they found that most of the patrons had gone home for the day, which made sense considering that it was getting late, though oddly enough Sig was no where in sight... and Tess was staring at a machine that Krew must have installed before heading to the weapon factory.

"Hey guys." Tess said, noticing that the group had entered the building, to which she glanced back at the machine, as if there was something about it that they needed to see, "Whatever Krew put in that machine, he looked really nervous."

"Whatever it is, Krew won't be needing it anymore." Raven commented, to which he took a moment to actually lick his fingers, though it was clear that he would remembering eating Krew for a long time, "He's, shall we say, not all together these days."

"Either way, I suggest that you all step back." Daxter declared, to which he climbed up onto the machine and claimed the mallet that was resting on it, though he was grinning at his friends as he realized what type of game this was, "Let the game player do his stuff!"

"You're such an animal!" Tess teased, knowing that Daxter got excited when she said things like that, to which Daxter rubbed the back of his head for a few seconds before flipping the game on and preparing himself.

The game in front of them was essentially a 'wack the target' type of game, where small heads, which appeared to resemble Metal Heads, popped out of eight holes in a random order and sometimes only one would pop out. As Daxter used the mallet to hit the targets, and would occasionally miss one, he also noticed that there were two more colors of his targets; a red one and a gold one. The red colored Metal Heads were nasty and would count as a miss if he hit them, as well as being stunned for a few seconds, while the golden ones were more points than the normal Metal Heads. As he played the game, and was scoring good points, Tess cheered him on while the rest of the group watched, knowing that he had the skills to beat Krew's last challenge.

It took Daxter a few minutes to get around to beating the high score that Krew had set for the game, but when he beat it he cheered for a moment... though that was promptly followed by the Time Map floating out of one of the holes and coming to a rest on the floor.

"The Time Map!" Daxter exclaimed, as he was pleased to have the artifact in their possession now, though that was followed by him staring at Tess and grinning, "You know, sugar plum, if any REAL Metal Heads came to town, I'd bonk 'em just like I did in the game!"

Raven already knew that Daxter wasn't referring to him, though even as that thought came to his mind he noticed that the door to the saloon was opening and that two beast type Metal Heads, from his father's hive, were walking into the building. Daxter, of course seemed oblivious to what was happening behind him, to which Raven prepared himself to do what he could to defend his friends.

"Daxter?.." Tess started to say, because she didn't want something to happen to Daxter, though at the same time she noticed that he was caught up in what he was doing.

"They'd be all, 'Don't hurt me, please!' and I'd be all, 'Too late, metal monkeys! You die screaming!' Daxter explained, going over how an encounter with the Metal Heads would go, despite the fact that he knew that such a thing would never actually happen, "Know what I'm saying?"

"Um..." Jak said, though at the same time he pulled out his Morph Gun, as it was clear that someone was going to have to take out the invaders, and it appeared that it was going to be him.

"Jak, I think these trophies are still walking!" Daxter exclaimed, to which he dived under Jak's legs, allowing his friend to shoot both of the Metal Heads in rapid succession, dropping them to the floor, "Metal Heads! Where's Sig when you need him?"

"Sig?" Tess asked, placing her hand on her chin for a moment, as she had to think about that for a moment, before she looked at the group, "I think Krew sent Sig on one last mission. Something about using Mar's Ruby Key to open a secret door in the Underport."

"Then that is where we'll be going next," Pinkamena said, knowing that having Sig with them would definitely improve things for them, especially when she looked outside the building.

The Shield Wall, the one thing that was keeping the Metal Heads out of the city, had finally come undone, as Metal Heads were running around and attacking people, namely the Krimzon Guards. She wasn't sure when this had occurred, as the barrier had been fine when they passed through it minutes ago, but now wasn't the time to be thinking about that. What was also interesting about the situation was that the Neo Metal Heads were also making their presence known, as they were fighting the forces of the main hive... and, as the group noted, all of them seemed to be wearing some sort of blue colored armor that indicated that they weren't enemies.

The group had to wonder how the Krimzon Guards liked working with their sworn enemies, or at least a group of them anyway, but at the moment they started moving towards the Underport... to which they got a message from Vin of all people.

The Shield Wall is down! Vin said over the communicator, though he was absolutely terrified of what was happening on the screens in front of him, I repeat, the Shield Wall is down! Sabotage! Kor did it! I knew Metal Heads would be the end of me... oh no! Metal Heads are at the door! They're breaking through! Too many of them! Jak!

There was nothing they could do to save Vin this time around, as it sounded like the Metal Heads were already tearing their way into the Power Station and they already knew that they would be too late to save him, to which they turned in a different direction and followed Tess' directions to the entrance of the Underport. There, on the second circular platform area that they had never actually bothered to look around, they discovered a door that revealed an elevator that took them deep beneath the port. When the elevator arrived at its destination, and they walked through the door that was right in front of them, they discovered a pair of Titan Suits waiting for them, to which they both climbed in and sealed them up, after their ottsels were inside with them... though that was followed by the chamber filling with water.

The first area they came to was like a place that told them what to expect in the upcoming areas of the Underport, as there were mines to avoid and glowing blue areas that restored the oxygen in the suits, as well as a rusted gate for them to break their way through. They made their way into the next area and followed the path that was in front of them, while at the same time they stopped at the oxygen area and took out the squid like Metal Heads that wanted to harm them... before they jumped through a hole in the floor and moved onward. From there they followed the only path that was available for them, to which they broke down another gate, avoided the mines, and took out the Metal Heads... before they came to an area that had four platforms that were locked to the bottom of the room.

It was a simple matter for them to punch each of the platforms and release them from the contraptions that were keeping them locked in place, before they rode a small elevator to the top of the room and used the four platforms to cross to the other side of where they were standing... allowing them to jump back into the water once more.

They smashed through the gate that was in their way and started walking across the bridge that they discovered after turning around the corner, though oddly enough the three Metal Heads that were floating around the underwater room chose to ignore them. Jak and Pinkamena could tell that they were from the main hive, thanks to their yellow colored skull gems, to which they determined that they were likely feeling Raven's presence and had decided not to attack them... which was fine with both of them at the moment. They then came to an area where they had to jump onto a platform, wait for it to rise to the same height as the one in front of them, jump onto the second platform and let it rise some more, before they could traverse the gap between them and the other entrance the room had.

Once they were both over the gap, and they had restored their oxygen, Jak and Pinkamena continued to follow the path in front of them... which was actually more like they turned to the left the moment they entered the next room and immediately discovered the door that would allow them to climb out of their Titan Suits. A few seconds later both Jak and Pinkamena climbed out of their suits, once the water level in the chamber allowed them to do so, before they walked through the now open second door. They then rounded another corner and spotted Sig standing near some sort of contraption, though it appeared that he was firing at something... to which Jak and Pinkamena roll jumped over to where their friend was standing.

"Hey there, tough guy." Jak said, to which he had to duck as Sig fired in their direction, though a few seconds later the corpse of a Metal Head dropped into the area between them.

"Get your skinny ass over here and start shooting!" Sig ordered, to which Jak and Pinkamena rushed to his side and pulled out their weapons, as while there weren't actually any enemies around them just yet they were being prepared, "Man, was I set up! Krew sent me down here to open some old doors with that Ruby Key you found, and when I did, Metal Heads came streaming in from some passage outside the city walls. Just like they were waiting for me! There's one!"

That was swiftly followed by Sig locking onto another Metal Head and blasting it without wasting a single second, showing the group just how skilled he actually was without putting too much effort into his actions.

"Well, you'll be happy to hear that Krew is dead." Pinkamena stated, though while she would have enjoyed battling him with the weapons that he had provided her and Jak with, and take his head in the process, she decided that being eaten by a Metal Head was one of the worst fates that someone could have... and Krew definitely deserved it.

"Yeah?" Sig stated, taking a moment to look at her, because he wasn't sure how the fat man had met his end, before he shook his head and decided that he didn't want to know all of the details, "Well, he's lucky, because he would not want me to catch him alive!"

"The Metal Head Leader must have promised Krew plenty for him to betray the whole city like this." Daxter commented, knowing that the fat man had no love for the Baron and would have sided with the Metal Head Leader in a heartbeat, as long as he got a good deal out of it.

"We can worry about that later," Jak said, to which he looked at Sig and noticed that the wastelander was nodding at him, indicating that they were thinking the same thing, "Come on, let's get out of here!"

Jak and Pinkamena walked forward and found that the room in front of where Sig had been standing contained two stone blocks that looked like keys of some sort, if the holes in the ground were any indication. Since there were two of them, and two of the blocks, they each took one block and punched it into place, allowing the door in front of them to open. When they were in the hallway, however, the wall behind them broke apart as a rather large Metal Head, a centipede one that was easily half the height of Raven's dragon form, started charging at them. They followed the path in front of them, jumping over broken parts of the walkway, jumping onto moving platforms, and also avoiding a Blue Eco laser that was coming out of one of the walls... before they crossed a small bridge that collapsed when the Metal Head walked on it, dropping it into the abyss below them.

It was then that they found another puzzle blocking their way, to which Jak simply struck the box until it was lined up with the hole and then hit it from another side, pushing it into place and opening the door for them to continue... though when they entered the next chamber they found a third block puzzle waiting for them. Sig proclaimed that he would hold off any Metal Heads that might come after them, allowing Jak and Pinkamena to figure out how the two blocks needed to be moved. Once they had determined how to move the blocks, in a timely manner anyway, they were about their work and quickly moved the blocks into place... though when they walked into the hallway they, once again, found themselves being chased by the large centipede Metal Head.

This time they had to jump over a trio of Blue Eco beams, shoot a platform into position, jump over some of the ledges and platforms that were in front of them, and jumped over another Eco beam before they reached a grate that Sig had discovered... to which he busted through it and beckoned for the group to follow him to the level below them. They then busted through a second grate and crossed over a cracked bridge that was between them and the platform they had to cross over to... though as Jak and Pinkamena stopped on the platform they noticed that Sig was right behind them.

"Let's go!" Jak called out, beckoning for Sig to run fast, because if that big Metal Head was mad over losing them, and he was sure that it was, it might just burrow through the ceiling to get at them, "We're almost to the elevator!"

"Looks like we finally lost 'em, chili peppers! Piece of cake, huh?" Sig replied, though at the same time he stopped on the middle of the cracked bridge, which seemed to hold his weight quite well despite the age that it was showing, "Now you guys are real wastelanders! I say it's time we take this fight to the Metal Head Leader himself! What a trophy he'll make! We find a way to juice up Mar's old gun, and then boom baby, we storm the nest, guns blazing! Hell! We'll take 'em all on, together! You and me! Side by side! Nothin'll stop us 'cause we're..."

Whatever he was going to say next was cut off as the ceiling burst open and the centipede Metal Head rushed down to where Sig was standing, cracking the bridge and casting the two of them into the depths below them, much to the shock of Jak, Daxter, Pinkamena, and Raven.

"So, uh, what's plan B?" Daxter asked, though at the same time he knew that it was foolish to even try and persuade his friends to consider another option, as they were both crazy enough to do what Sig had suggested.

Jak and Pinkamena looked at each other as they climbed onto the elevator and rode back up to the surface level, as they were both planning on doing what Sig had suggested, as that had been the plan from the start. They had been planning on attacking the Metal Head Leader, when he was distracted by something else, but this was definitely an opportunity that they couldn't afford to miss. As they walked out of the area that the elevator brought them to, however, Keira called them over the communicator and informed them that the Time Map had some old coordinates in it, which wasn't a surprise to them at this point... but they agreed to meet her by the stadium.

Thanks to the war going on the Krimzon Guard didn't even attempt to stop them from moving through the city, though at the same time the Neo Metal Heads, about ten of them anyway, followed them towards the stadium... where they found Keira, both versions of Samos, and Brutter standing near the Rift Rider.

"Oh no! Here they come!" Brutter called out, causing the group to look in Jak and Pinkamena's direction, where they noticed who was following them, "Metal Headers!"

"Correction, allies are coming our way." the Shadow said, once more demonstrating his strange sense of ease that had developed after discovering that the Neo Metal Heads were allies.

"Guys, the Rift Rider is finished!" Keira commented, beckoning to the vehicle in question, though it was clear that there was something else that was bothering her, "However, my father told me that the Rift Ring might be in the Metal Head Nest... which means that you'll have to defend us while we load the Rift Rider onto a balloon that Brutter has kindly provided us with."

Jak and Pinkamena grinned as they pulled their weapons back out and started firing at the Metal Heads that were coming towards their friends, while the Neo Metal Heads took care of the enemies that there further at the back of the pack. Raven, on the other hand, morphed into his hybrid form and joined his followers in their attack, as even with the Shield Wall down it was taking his body some time to adapt to the missing barrier that had been blocking the majority of his power. While they worked on dealing with the Metal Heads, however, Keira and Brutter prepared the balloon while the two Samos' used their Eco abilities to lift the Rift Rider into the air and move it towards the balloon.

With their combined efforts Keira and the two Samos' were able to get the Rift Rider on the balloon and get the Lurker vehicle into the air, to which Keira called down to them and told them that they would meet back up once they had bested the Metal Head Leader... though a few seconds later, once the balloon was further away from them, they received a much smaller message from Vin.

"Jak..." Vin managed to say, though his breathing indicated that he was definitely in pain and that he was about to die, which meant that he had to have some important piece of information for them, "Kor... Construction Site..."

Jak looked at Pinkamena for a moment, who smiled as the directions came in a few seconds later, before they climbed onto their zoomers and headed off in the direction of the Construction Site. There was no time to mourn Vin's passing, not when they still had to stop the Metal Head Leader and his army, but they resolved to honor him when they emerged victorious. It didn't take them long to reach their destination, thanks to the directions Vin was able to sent them, though they carefully entered the door that they had been brought to... though a few moments later, after making their way through the small corridor, they found a large area in front of them, and that the Baron had finished walking down the ramp with some of his guards.

Jak and Pinkamena stepped forward, so they could confront the Baron and take back the Precursor Stone, but the moment they reached where the Baron was something unexpected happened... Kor dropped out of the sky and landed between them and the Baron, but they both knew that something big was going to happen.

"Kor!" Jak exclaimed, as he was actually surprised to find the old man here, despite the fact that he and Pinkamena had debated whether or not the old man was even on their side, which had started after the events of the Tomb of Mar, "What's going on?"

"I'm sure you know... deep down in your darkest nightmares." Kor replied, though at the same time he approached Jak and let his face distort for a few seconds, revealing a familiar looking face for a few seconds, "We've met before, remember? Everything's going exactly as planned."

Jak and Pinkamena, as well as the Baron, watched as Kor walked away from the assembled group and tossed his cane to the side, where they discovered that he could walk just fine. A few seconds later four wings, the same that Jak and Pinkamena had seen when the Metal Head Leader had emerged from the Rift Ring back in Sandover Village all those years ago, erupted from Kor's back. That was followed by his arms shifting to the same arms that they remembered seeing, before a tail emerged as well, which coiled around and pointed down at Kor's head... to which his entire body shook for a few seconds before shattering before their eyes.

Jak, Daxter, and Pinkamena stood there in shock as the Metal Head Leader, in all of his glory, landed on the ground and stared at all of them, though at the same time Raven's hands moved to his head as he started breathing heavily... though the three of them knew that the memories, and his full power, were finally returning.

"Now you see!" Metal Kor declared, glancing at his true form with a hit of joy in his voice, as if he was pleased that all of his hard work had finally bared some fruit, "Without the Shield Wall disrupting my powers inside the city, I am my full potential now! So for the last time, give me the Precursor Stone!"

"If the city must die, then we all die!" the Baron shouted, to which he drew his Eco Blade and charged forward with his guards, though at the same time Jak and Pinkamena moved back a few steps.

A few seconds later Metal Kor loosed a blast of Eco energy that blasted the attacking group apart, where the guards rained down all across the area while the Baron collided with the support structure behind him... collapsing the entire thing in the process. Once that was done, however, Metal Kor flapped his wings and moved into the air, telling Jak and Pinkamena that neither of them were important to him at the moment.

"I will find that Stone if I have to crush this city one brick at a time!" Metal Kor shouted, to which he turned around and departed from the area they were in, leaving Jak and Pinkamena to their own devices.

Once Metal Kor was gone, and they were sure that he wasn't coming back, Jak and Pinkamena rushed over to where the Baron had landed, to which they grabbed the piece of metal that had fallen on top of him and pulled it out of the way. What they revealed, however, was that the Baron's legs were broken and it appeared that several of his ribs were cracked as well, which meant that since they had no Green Eco items on them they couldn't heal the Baron, not that they wanted to do that to begin with.

"Pinkamena, Jak, you two are the supreme weapons... and I made you, even if one was intentional and the other wasn't." the Baron coughed up, apparently finding the energy to reach into his pocket and reveal a button of some kind, which he pressed and revealed that there was a second Piercer Bomb in the area they were in, "Still, any leader worth his salt always has his backup plan... Remember, the first rule in making a bomb, is to always make two!"

Jak and Pinkamena noticed that, at the top of the bomb, rested the Precursor Stone, to which they glanced down at Daxter, as Raven seemed to be having problems... as he was trying to contain his memories and not transform into his true form at the moment. A few seconds later the Baron breathed his last, to which his hand dropped to the ground and his body stopped moving... and, despite the fact that he had treated her like trash since she broke Jak out of the Fortress, Pinkamena couldn't help but let a single tear drop from her face.

"Okay! I'm going in!" Daxter declared, to which he ran up the side of the bomb and slipped inside the large device, to which his next words came from the inside of the bomb, "Man, this place is just as bad as the last Piercer Bomb, and that one didn't even have the Precursor Stone attached to it. I have to tell you guys that it is a good thing that the Baron hadn't set the bomb to explode if someone tampered with it, because this will be like taking candy from a baby."

A few seconds later Daxter pushed the Stone out of where it was being held, where Jak caught it before it could hit the ground, before he pulled himself out from the inner workings of the bomb and returned to his friends. Raven, on the other hand, seemed to be calming down from his episode, though he was now furious about something that wasn't a part of his own memories... to which he glanced at Pinkamena as he returned to her shoulder.

"I know you don't care for the Baron, especially with how he treated you lately, but he was still your father..." Raven commented, to which he growled as he looked at the sky, as if he was trying to find out where his father went, "but one thing is for certain... I'm going to kill my father and prove that not all Metal Heads are bad, even if I have to present my father's head to Haven City to prove my point."

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